Twilight Twists
by HolyMaiden24
Summary: Zelda gets stuck with Zant when they switch roles with Link and Midna... this ought to be fun. New chap: We go back in time... and meet up with Skull Kid and Ooccoo again.
1. Chapter 1

Hello and welcome to Twilight Twists. Before reading, a few points shall be addressed:

Thank you for those who have read Skyward Swaps. I loved the comments you wrote after the conclusion of the fan fic, and I hope this will be just as good, or better than last time, with less spelling errors.

Much like Skyward Swaps, this is a role reversal, but there will be a reason for it in this story, which will keep it from being _too_ exact to the video game.

This will contain references to Skyward Swaps: with that in mind, expect one certain spoiler, but I think you already figured out which one, based on the concept.

Just like last time, there will be some skimming on certain parts of, if it wouldn't have changed either way, unless it's interesting really important. This will include the majority of what occurs in the dungeons.

There might be less joke cutaways and possibly only one breather chapter.

And finally...

I know some of you readers are fond of Zant. I'll try to do my best with his characterization. Also: he's not going to be an imp in this story. I'll explain later.

Chapter 1. Lady Wolf

* * *

><p>I had expected my day to turn out differently than this.<p>

To begin, I will explain.

Although I had lived in the town of Hyrule Castle since age six, I had mainly been raised in Ordon Village, which was just barely on the border of the kingdom of Hyrule. I had not gone back since the day I left- there were too many painful memories I wanted to forget- but I enjoyed growing up in the village.

It was Rusl and his wife Uli who helped raise me. Rusl taught me how to fight with a sword, and Uli provided me with books on the legends and history of our kingdom, which I not only eagerly devoured, but I would pass on those tales to their son Colin, even after I was able to get a place of my own.

I earned my livelihood as a shepherdess to the village's famed goats, and helped farm for corps or watched over the village children, but a part of me desired something more than the life I had lead.

It was a joke amongst the villagers that, despite being friends with Ilia- Mayor Bo's daughter- we would one day have to fight for the title of Mayor, as we displayed the ideal qualities. Although I was flattered with such a notion, I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted, or if I wanted to live in the village for the rest of my life.

Then came the day Rusl and I sat by the waters of Faron Spring, when dusk was to fall.

"Did you know that the coronation ceremony is coming in a few days time?" Rusl asked me.

"The prince is to be crowned king so soon?" I raised an eyebrow. The king of Hyrule had passed away not so long ago, leaving behind his only son and heir to the throne.

"I trust that he will make a good king." Rusl smiled with pride. "He is not much older than you, but he is known to be very brave and willing to put his people before himself. Our village is to bestow upon him a gift of goodwill, upon his coronation: I have crafted a special sword in his honor. I was planning on going... but I figured that it would be best to ask you to take my place. It is not every day that one gets to see their future king."

I felt a little unsure about this. "It would be an honor Rusl, but..." I hesitated.

"There is nothing to worry about." Rusl gave me an understanding glance. "What is past is past, and you needn't stay in the town for long."

"But wouldn't Colin want to come with you?" I asked.

Rusl frowned. "Not only am I concerned for the fact that bandits may take this opportunity to strike, but there have been rumors of monsters roaming our lands. I don't want to put him in any harm, but I trust you well enough to take care of yourself."

Even though I wasn't too keen on seeing the soon-to-be king, or returning back to my birthplace, I agreed. "I will represent the village then." I agreed. "After all you and this village have done for me, it is the very least I can do. It would be an honor."

Rusl smiled at me with fatherly pride. "Thank you, Zelda."

-and skipping ahead( get used to this)-

The day I was supposed to go to the castle started off on a bad note when Ilia took Epona, my beloved mare, on the account of a wound that I had failed to tend to. While the mayor reminded me that it would be bad if the village's representative would be late for the coronation.

I appreciated that she cared about my horse, but she had no right to just take Epona away from me. Epona was my horse, and she acted as if she belonged to her.

I was grumbling to myself all the way back to my house, when I found the children hanging nearby. Unsurprisingly, Colin had distanced himself from them again.

"...Zelda, are you going to see Ilia?" He shly asked before nervously turning around to face Malo and Talo. "Maybe it's just me... but those guys don't normally let people through."

I glanced to the two brothers and sighed: it was no secret to me that they were rather antagonistic of Colin for being 'weak' and considering that Colin told the adults about Talo chasing a monkey into the woods the day before, I wasn't surprised by this new woe in the boy's daily routine.

"Um, Zelda, you think... you think we can go see Ilia together?" Colin- who was fond of the both of us- asked.

"I would appreciate that Colin." I smiled. "I need some help getting Epona back after all."

When we approached the brothers, Talo was eager to see me. "Hey, we've been waiting for you, y'know, Zel!" Talo cheerfully greeted as his brother eagerly bounced and held his arms up in the air- which was odd, considering how mellow Malo could be. "Yesterday was sooo much fun! Yeah, chasing that monkey was great! I was just telling Malo here about how we wanted o show it to him, but we let it go instead!"

Malo's odd demeanor dropped back to his quiet sarcasm as he spoke "Oh, YOU didn't get caught, Talo?"

"Oh, Colin!" Talo's cheerfulness changed as he scowled in contempt at the boy beside me. "Way to spoil everything by telling your dad. Nice job." He sarcastically added before mumbling how awful the scolding he got from his dad was.

"I bet you're trying to go see Ilia, aren't you? Well, there's no way I'm gonna let you pass." He crossed his arms with firm determination. It irritated me, not only because it was mean of him, but such behavior had always gotten on my nerves, for some reason or another.

-?-

"_Mido or Groose,_ maybe?" A voiced asked... before realizing something.

"Oh yeah... I'm not supposed to be commenting yet... oops."

-back to the story-

"Oh, hey neat!" Talo noticed my wooden practice sword with eager gleefulness- the childish greed and longing was too evident. "Zelda, lemme borrow that wooden sword!" He almost demanded before placed his fists on his hips. "If I had that wooden sword yesterday, I could've handled it all alone, definitely! C'mon! Let me borrow that wooden sword right now!"

"I can't." I merely told him.

"Colin, you better fix this." Talo quietly growled at Colin, who responded in turn by glancing up at me in fear and pleading eyes.

"Talo, I need to get Epona back." I crossed my arms and gave the boy a firm look. "And you have yet to show any real maturity. Especially right now: if I can't expect you to be polite or apologize to Colin- who was only looking out for your safety- then I can't trust you with my sword."

I pulled the sword out and gave it to his brother instead. "Here Malo: I know you'll like bargaining for a fair price with this."

Malo snickered as he took the sword and Talo's face fell before he sent Colin a dark glare. Unfortunately, there was nothing else I could do about what would come next for Colin.

As we walked to the spring, Colin thanked me. "Th- thanks." He gulped and nodded. "I didn't-"

"You aren't off the hook so easily either, Colin." I knelt beside him. "You need to learn how to stand up for what is right. I can't always be there to stop them from teasing you, or fight your battles for you."

"You see this?" I held up the back of my right hand, where my birthmark was located. "It looks like the Triforce, doesn't it? The right triangle represents courage: Farore inspires and favors those who show true courage."

"I don't want courage!" Colin protested. "I don't want to fight go off and do stupid things! I'm not like you or dad!" He shut his eyes. "I don't even know what courage is supposed to be!"

Perhaps I took it too far. I sighed and placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Colin. The definition of courage is a tricky one that even I struggle with."

Colin looked at the birthmark on my hand- one that I always tried to hide, for what it had meant to me for as long as I could remember, despite it's legacy- before looking to me.

"When you come back..." he timidly began. "I want to know everything about your journey. But... when you meet the prince, are you going to dress up?"

"I..." felt a little sheepish as I got up. "I don't have anything nice to wear. Your mother offered me money for a dress, but I don't want to spend it on such a luxury." I was still wearing the garbs of the village with red and purple being the most prominent colors, and I didn't really have anything that would look nice.

"I found a pretty brooch that you could wear." Colin was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be going off in style. "It has such a pretty red stone in it too..."

We then continued on our way, only to find that the spring was sealed off, along with Ilia and my horse. Much to my dismay, Ilia was still adamant about giving Epona back.

With Colin's help, I found a secret passage that permitted us to enter the spring. Colin entered first, so that he could speak to Ilia on my behalf about what had happened yesterday, before I could approach her.

"Look, I'm sorry." I began as she turned to face me. A relieved Epona turned away from Ilia and faced me, which didn't escape my friend's notice. "If Talo hadn't been so rash, I would have noticed the injury. And I suppose it's my fault for not checking on her this morning, since I'm going to ride her."

"So you prefer your Mistress over me, Epona?" Ilia was a little crestfallen, but understanding as she addressed me. "Don't worry about her, Zelda- the injury isn't too serious, so you two can go on together."

"Thank you for checking on her." I approached Epona and petted the space between her eyes- other than Rusl and his family, Epona was my dearest companion, who I've had for quite awhile, and had helped raised since she was born. She was a beautiful horse, and I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something happened. "Really, thank you."

"Zelda," Ilia began and I gave her my attention. "Could you at least promise me this? No matter what happens on your journey, don't try to do anything... out of your league. Please?"

"I'm not going to stray from the path to Hyrule Castle and back." I answered. "This is not the journey I wanted, but it will come to pass someday." I hoped.

Ilia understood: we grew up together, and she knew how much I felt about wanting to leave Ordon Village.

"...Just come home safely." She asked.

I shot her a smile, but before I could answer, there was a tremendous crash behind us. We turned in horror as horned creatures riding on large, monstrous beasts came charging in: from my readings, I immediately recognized them as bulbins.

It all happened so fast: Ilia turned to run, but one of the bulbins shot her in the back with an arrow. Before I could do anything, my world became black.

When I woke up, I found myself lying in the spring water.

"Ilia?!" I cried out as I shot out of the water. "Colin?!" Panic set in: my best friend and my practical brother had likely been kidnapped, as they where no where to be seen.

I looked around until my eyes darted to the opening that lead to Faron Woods, where the monsters had entered.

"Please no, please no." I panicked and ran, despite how sopping wet I was from the water.

As I made my way towards the bridge, I noticed that the sky was a strange, ethereal golden yellow. My interest in this didn't grow until I made it beyond the bridge, to the other side, where a strange sight befell my eyes as the area became bathed in darkness and a reddish yellow glow.

"What the-" I wondered as I panted for air as a black and yellow like symbol blocked my pathway. What was it, and what was it doing here?

Suddenly, a long dark hand shot out of it and I screamed as it pulled me in.

I chocked for air, as the thing held me up. In my desperation, I could make out a strange black creature with a circular helmet haunched over it's head, but I was more concerned with staying alive.

My right hand suddenly grew warm, and I could hear a strange pitch through the air, until the creature suddenly tossed me. I collided against the ground and struggled to get up, when I felt something happening inside me.

I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach as the world around me began to pulsate, around me. And suddenly, my body began to change as my bones suddenly shifted in their shape or snapping apart on the inside.

It was agonizing- I let out a scream before it was too much to bear. Before I blacked out once again, I could hear the pained howl of a wolf nearby, that overpowered my screaming.

But it felt as if my scream had become the howl.

-?-

"_That looks painful, doesn't it?"_

_I couldn't see who was speaking in the darkness._

"_Oh, don't mind me." The voice of a girl spoke. "See, this was done before, with a certain three ladies entering a dream. I felt that I needed to repeat myself to get back in touch of things... without another exposition... uh... there's a slight chance you might hear from me again... or at least the appointed overseer of this fan fic... yeah, pretend you didn't hear this."_

_I have the oddest dreams sometimes._

_-?-_

When I finally awoken, I had found myself staring up at a stone ceiling. When I looked elsewhere, I saw iron bars. Somehow, I had landed myself in a jail cell of sorts: and it smelled rather damp and musky.

However, what bothered me was why I felt so different. My body felt strange, and my bones didn't feel like they were in any normal shape that resembled hylian or human.

I tried sitting up, except that my back wouldn't permit me to go up very far.

I tried moving my hand up- but when I did, I saw the foreleg of a reddish purple furred appendage, and not a hylian arm.

I let out a cry of surprise, but it sounded more like the yelp of a dog or a wolf. I glanced around and, sure enough, my body was now that of a reddish purple and white furred wolf- complete with a tail! A tail!

I let out another howl and, in a panic, I tried to run off, but I felt something pull around my my right foreleg and I was knocked flat to the ground. A quick two glances told me that I was cuffed by a chain attached to the ground.

_THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! _ I thought._ FIRST ILIA AND COLIN ARE KIDNAPPED, AND NOW THIS?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!_

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" I tried to scream, but all that came out was a series of barks. In defeat, I turned back to the chains and decided to try to free myself.

I tried using my new mouth to bite the chain (which was cold), in a futile attempt to free myself from my binds. All I did was hurt my teeth, but I couldn't care less: I needed to get out of here!

"My, aren't we desperate for escape?" A voice spoke through my determined growls.

In confusion, I looked up, just as I heard the sound of metal against metal, and the bars of my holding cell flew over me. It made me wince at first, until I could relax and see who my rescuer to be was.

A pair of scimitars were held up in front of the person, until they were lowered to their sides. The wielder was revealed to be a tall figure, in the strangest garments of black, with red and green markings, and sleeves that engulfed his hands and part of the scimitars, but was most strange was the helmet he wore. Above some sort of metal shoulder armor was what looked like some sort of chameleon or lizard with a long tongue.

I could smell him somehow: the smell reminded me of something, but I couldn't place it in that confused moment.

Slowly the figure walked towards me and I couldn't help but let out a growl, as he made me a little nervous.

"Oh come now." He spoke with disapproval- his voice was deep sounding, and yet not quite at the same time. "I'm here to rescue you, Lady Wolf. You should be grateful that I wish to rescue you."

With some hesitance, I stopped growling and relaxed before he knelt down beside me. "Now stay put." He commanded as he raised a scimitar up and then brought it down on the chain. I briefly winced again as I felt the blade snap the chains in half, before I saw that the cuff was still attached to me, but I was otherwise free.

I looked at him in confusion before he nodded. "Ah, much better: such a beautiful beast must be free to roam wherever she choses. But you aren't a beast, are you, my Lady Wolf?"

He slowly got up. "You are possibly wondering as to what is going on... and why you are here. Unfortunately, you are now in my debt- and I will warn you, that I can be rather excitable- so while you are now in my service, you will at least come to know what is going on."

I let out a growl: I did not ask to be in debt, nor did I ask for his help.

"Don't you growl at me, Lady Wolf." He hissed. "I could have killed you, if you didn't have a use to me. Consider yourself lucky that I have further need of you: now, if you obey me, you might find out the truth, so follow my instructions carefully."

I wasn't happy with this. With reluctance, I followed him out of the cell and, as soon as we were out, he then turned into a black shape that shrank towards the floor, and into my shadow.

"I'll direct you, Lady Wolf." I could hear his voice echo around me. "I am trying to avoid being seen at the moment, but I will still be of use, when it is needed.

And so, began my journey. I made my way out of the cell and through what seemed to be crossed between a dungeon and a waterway: all throughout the journey, not only did I see strange moving blobs writhing on the ground like animals, but I saw blue flames flickering here and there.

"Tap into your senses." The voice spoke. "See the flames anew, by focusing."

Though I was curious, I felt something inside my mind that I never felt before and focused on that- suddenly the flame changed into a human guard that was cowering in fear. I could have sworn I saw that armor somewhere before.

And so, with my 'companion's' help I made my way out of the dungeon, up a tower, and found myself on the rooftops of a large castle. The sky was new: golden yellow, with odd looking black shapes rising upwards, and black bird like monsters, but the castle was familiar.

"Did you figure it out?" The voice asked.

I did: it was impossible not to recognize Hyrule Castle.

"There is someone I would like for you to meet." The voice continued. "I hope you are able to try to tend to yourself and look presentable when we arrive."

Eventually, the rest of the journey lead me to a tower, where I walked up the stairs, and into a bed chamber.

This bed chamber was almost as large as my house, with several bookshelves in one corner, the bed itself, with a large canopy, an expensive looking table with chairs and a large fireplace, and there was a plague of sorts that was meant to hold a weapon on display, but it was missing: this was a room fit for an extremely wealthy person.

By the windows, was a figure, dressed in a robe that reached the floor. I couldn't help but growl: anything in this world that was black was a cause for alarm, and that extended to the monsters that I had encountered. Even if this person gave off the pleasant smell of the forest and steel, of all things.

I could hear my companion snigger.

The figure noticed me and then turned with a slight, masculine gasp. He wore a hood over his head, which obscured his eyes, and a dark blue scarf obscured his mouth from view.

"Hello again." My companion reappeared from the shadows and I watched as his helmet suddenly moved back on its own.

Under the helmet was a pale, almost blue skinned man with a rather flat looking nose that made him seem reptilian. He had reddish orange eyes that lacked any pupils, red hair that peeked out under a cowl, and I noticed that there were splits in his mouth. Those splits opened up with his mouth as he spoke in a mock flattery, which was rather unsettling.

"Here is the one that I seek." With a flourish, he made a bow that came across as mocking to the robed man. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"What are you doing here, Zant?" The voice was young- almost my age- but it contained a weariness to it.

"Ah, you remembered my name?" Zant seemed amused as I walked towards them. "What an honor!" He let out a giggle.

The man knelt down to my level and looked at my paw, where the cuff was. "You were imprisoned?" He seemed troubled by this.

_Yes: one moment, I'm in the forest, the next, I'm a wolf locked in a dungeon._ I thought with annoyance. _I was supposed to go to the castle, but not like this._

The man suddenly let out a noise of surprise. "I..." He slowly began. "I can understand what you say."

This surprised me. _You do? Wait, tell me: what color are my eyes?_

"As blue as a jewel that cant decide if it's a sapphire or an amethyst." He breathlessly answered- possibly excited to be speaking to a wolf, unless he knew that I was a hylian. He then bowed his head. "I am sorry... this is all my fault."

"Instead of being apologetic to Lady Wolf." Zant spoke. "Why not tell here where this is or what has happened? Why not tell her what you've managed to do..." I heard a smugness in his voice. "...Prince of the Twilight!" He burst out laughing.

The man stayed quiet as Zant laughed, and did not say a word until Zant had finished.

"Listen carefully..." The man began. "This was once the sacred kingdom of Hyrule, where the power of the gods was said to have slumbered. But one day... _she _came."

-past-

_The knights of Hyrule stood by in the throne room, as their future king stayed by their side._

_Word spoke of an invasion of beasts, who managed to enter the castle, and were attempting to reach the throne room._

"_Are you sure that you wish to be part of this fight, Your Highness?" One of the knights asked in concern as the prince stood by with a sword large enough to require the use of two hands in his position._

"_I refuse to abandon my men." The prince- dressed in regal armor and a fine green tunic- adamantly spoke as he held his sword up._

-?-

"Think of something like the magic armor, only green instead of red... and if you're thinking of the crown too, the huge leaf at the center is a lot smaller... Ah, sorry, I'm still not supposed to show up yet!"

-past-

_Suddenly, a wave of black smoke came out and knocked a number of soldiers to the side._

_The prince grunted, but stood his ground._

_Out of the smoke came the dark beasts, and the soldiers on the front lines charged, with swords and shields, but all were over powered in mere seconds._

_The prince watched in horror as the beasts had their victims in their clutches, never once killing them, and yet they showed their power over the soldiers._

_And then, she came: with a beast on each side, was possibly one of the most beautiful woman that many of them had ever seen._

_The exotic, bluish green skinned woman- with flaming red hair, seductive looking black clothes at highlighted her best features, and yellow eyes with red pupils- approached the throne, yet stopped at the stairs. This temptress radiated with a confidence that the knights were losing- all but their beloved ruler._

"_It is time for you to choose: surrender or die" The woman declared to the prince._

"_Oh, and may you kindly relay this message to your people," She smirked. "Life, or death? It's your choice, your highness: I'd advise you to take the more noble path, if I were you."_

_Nervously, the knights turned to their leader and awaited his choice. Any choice that the prince had made thus far had earned his people's respect, if not love or approval._

_The prince looked at the soldiers who were in the clutches of the beasts... and he dropped his head in defeat. For once, their normally brave prince had given up, in a situation where there was no true victory._

_The sword slipped from his hands and fell to the ground._

-now-

"Twilight covered Hyrule, like a shroud, and without light, the people became as spirits... all but one. And within the twilight, they live on: unaware that they have passed into spirit forms... and without the leadership of their prince, or any assurance, all the people know now is fear... Fear of a nameless evil..."

And so, the figure turned from the window he stared from, holding himself upright in a way that seemed noble and dignified. "Though the kingdom has fallen to twilight, and my throne is forfeited, I remain it's prince." He declared as he pulled back the hood and my muzzle dropped in shock as the Prince of Hyrule revealed himself to me.

I knew that he was around my age but I never expected him to be so handsome. He had simple, yet well formed facial features, and hair that looked somewhere between a dull yellow and a light brown, but what captivated me were his eyes.

His yes held a determination, despite of the weariness and sorrow that they also contained. These were the eyes of one who endured many burdens and duties, and yet still managed to overcome them.

"I am known to some as simply Link." He introduced himself. "There is no need to burden you with my full title."

_Your Majesty!_ If I blushed, I could have, and I bowed, out of respect.

"Why so depressed?" Zant sighed with slight annoyance. "This perpetual twilight isn't that horrendous, you know. My kin find it to be quite livable." He perked up when he said this.

"Not mine." The prince calmly replied. "You have already seen what has been done to this kingdom. What I'd like to know is why _she_ is looking for you."

Zant then made an erratic twitch. It was rather unsettling, the way he did it, as it came across as if he were suddenly nervous.

"That is none of your concern." He sharply replied. "I'd think there are more pressing matters to attend to, what with Lady Wolf in our presence."

The prince glanced to me. "What is your true name?" he asked.

_I am Zelda. _I responded. _Zelda of Ordon Village._

The prince seemed taken by surprise. "The name of the-" He cut him self short and grew alert. "The guard will be making his rounds. I'd advise you to hurry."

"Then we shall flee, oh noble prince." Zant made one final mock bow, before going back into my shadow.

_Why stay here? _I asked the prince in concern: why should he be a prisoner in his own castle? _Why not come with us-_

"Go, Zelda!" The prince demanded. "If I leave, there's no telling what could happen to Hyrule!"

I obeyed. _Yes! _I hurried away. _Farewell, Your Majesty!_

I was lucky that my hearing as a wolf was excellent, because I wouldn't have heard the prince say,

"Farewell... Zelda."

Much later, I was once again on the rooftops of the castle, where Zant came out to speak to me.

I couldn't help but think back to the prince: it seemed that he had given up so much to protect his people, and I felt sorry for him, as he had to be alone in this strange distortion of our world, no matter how beautiful it seemed.

"I suppose I could return you back to where you once came." Zant spoke. "After all, it's safe and secure from all this 'wretchedness'."

I shot him a glare.

"I can't understand wolf, Lady Wolf." He shook his head as the helmet went back on over it. "Or are you thinking of those friends of yours? The little boy and the girl with the atrocious hair?"

I let out something that resembled a gasp- how on earth did he know about them?

"Perhaps," Zant nonchalantly spoke as he began leaning to one side. "I can help save your friends, and keep your village from being affected... but that means being my servant. Is Lady Wolf up to such an assignment?"

I had no reason to trust this strange man, and yet I had no choice. Especially considering my current state. With reluctance, I nodded my head, just as he leaned far enough that he could have fallen to the ground.

He returned back to a normal standing position and let out a deep chuckle. "_Wonderful."_

As I watched my body turn into black squares and felt myself pulled up into the sky, I wondered: _what _had I gotten myself into?

* * *

><p>Why is this chapter so **** long? Because I wanted to get the intro out of the way. The next one is all about the forest.<p>

Link's coronation: I'm following that theory that there was a coronation that was supposed to have taken place, had things went as scheduled. From what I could make out, the Ordon Sword was meant to be a gift of either goodwill or acknowledging Hyrule's soon to be queen in the actual game. I also figure that Link would have a more noble sounding name as a prince, hence why he said "I'm known to some as simply Link." Except I haven't figured out what it is yet.

Zelda's response to Talo: The little **** had it coming to him. I wanted to have her whack him on the head with the sword, until I remembered that someone else did that in a parody version.

Why isn't Zant an imp?: because I didn't want to do that. RedRumRose of tumblr has done this take on the role swap already- I recommend checking that artwork out. Also, that insult to Ilia is born from the fact that I'm actually not that fond of her. (though I am willing to respect her, for this fan fic.)

Hello there handsome: There will be a little Zelda/Link in this, but it's not going to be as major as it was in Skyward Swaps.

For my heath, updates won't be as frequent anymore. See you sometime soon.


	2. Reluctant hero, sacred forest, and-

Yay reviews! And thanks for following this fan fic!

To OrangeStreakedStar: There will be Zelink! Not as much as in Skyward Swaps, but it's going to be there. I think you might like how I'm going to push towards it.

Anyway...

Chapter 2. Reluctant hero, sacred forest, and freaky creatures

* * *

><p>I had been returned to Ordon spring... but I was still a wolf for some reason.<p>

"Ah, that's right." Zant's voice echoed. "Though you have left the Twilight realm, you still possess the form of a wolf... I wonder why?"

He laughed. "Though I do imagine that you would need a way to defend yourself when you regain your human form... for you see, I will need you to recover a few objects for me, when the time comes. Unless of course you would rather be a wolf for the rest of your days."

"Oh, also, the reason why I haven't left is because I need to keep an eye on you. I trust you as much as you trust me, my Lady Wolf."

I couldn't stand him, but night had fallen across Ordon Village, and I had no choice but to obey Zant.

To make matters worse, the bulbins could be found around my house and without any possible weapon, I had to attack them with my fangs (they didn't taste good. You are better off not knowing what the taste was like.)

Before I could enter the village, I heard someone cry out "_Wait!_" To my surprise, it was from a tiny squirrel that was perched near the ladder to my house.

"_Thank you for taking care of those bad guys!"_ He thanked me. _"They made the forest and village a mess: they kidnapped the village children."_

"_What?!" _I gasped in horror. How could I have not realized that the bulbins would attack the village until now, or even kidnap the other children?!

"_But I know your not one of them."_ The squirrel continued, before advising me to speak to the other animals in my time of need. _"You have the smell of the forest about you."_

Unfortunately, my current form forced me to sneak around the village, as the villagers would find me one of the 'bad guys.' The village looked relatively intact, but, to my further dismay, I learned from overhearing Beth's distraught father that the children had indeed been captured.

I knew then that I needed to hurry as soon as I could: there was no telling what happened to them.

I took the wooden shield from the house of Malo and Talo- but in the process, I learned that Rusl had been injured, in an attempt to protect the children. And... I may have accidentally scared of the Mayor and Malo and Talo's father off when I unintentionally showed myself to them.

Oh, and I was attacked by a hawk, thanks to Beth's father. All I had to do was scare him off, thanks to the advice of Sera's cat.

I hadn't realized how hungry I was or how long I had gone without food until I saw fruit in a bowl in the house. To make matters worse, the wolf part of me wanted to devour any animal in sight, and I had to restrain myself because... well, would you want to eat something that was nice and could talk to you? Instead, I snatched an apple and hurried out of the house. The whole family possibly had it coming since they left a window open for me to enter through.

When I saw Rusl leaving his house, he was limping off towards the forest and as much as I wanted to stop him, I knew that there was nothing I could do, if he couldn't recognize me.

I needed a sword and, after digging up a pathway that lead from the outside, I entered my old home and found the sword laying by the love-seat.

I almost hesitated when I took it: I felt guilty for stealing from my surrogate family, and especially because the blade was meant to be given to the prince (who rightfully deserved such a fine gift). However, I told myself that I could tell Rusl when this nightmare was over, and I doubted that the prince would mind if I had to use this sword.

"Excellent work, Lady Wolf." Zant praised me. "Now, we must go into the realm of the twilight, that lies waiting in the woods."

I shuddered, remembering what happened the last time I entered the twilight realm. However, I headed off towards Faron Woods with nothing but a prayer and hope for the best.

-Intothewoodsisanawesomemoviemusicalirecmmendit-

When I almost approached the Ordon Spring, an ethereal voice began calling to me.

"_Wait... come to my spring_."

With some hesitance, I obeyed and walked into the waters of the spring... only to be surrounded by unnaturally shaped stones that came from the sky.

They glowed red, surrounding me with a barrier, and from the sky came the beasts of the twilight.

In a furious rage I lunged at it and bit the beast several times until it fell and disintegrated into black squares.

Then, the spring turned gold and the stones above the waterfalls were lit up with unfamiliar blue symbols.

An orb of light rose from the spring, until a shape formed and became like that of the Ordon goats. It was large, and yet, I felt no fear: only comfort.

"_O brave youth..." _It spoke. _"I am one of the four light spirits that protect Hyrule at the behest of the gods. I am Ordona._

_The black beat you have slain was a shadow being. It had come to seize the light: my brethren in Hyrule already had their light stolen by these fell beasts. Thus, the entire kingdom has been reduced to a netherwold ruled by the cursed powers of darkness. They will never stop with Hyrule: soon, the entire world of light will fall into the hands of the one who rules the twilight._

_To save this land, the lost light must be covered. The three light spirits who have lost their light must be revived. There is but one who can revive them and redeem this land... You."_

"Me?" I felt uneasy about this. _"How could I possibly do that?"_

"_You still have yet to discover your true power. Those who have been transformed by twilight cannot recover their original forms... Unless..."_

Ordona explained that if I found the light, in the same place that I had been changed, I could be returned to my real form, before it disappeared into the spring.

I stared at the water for a moment, as I recalled Ordona's words.

I shook my head and continued on.

When I finally reached the spot that divided my world from the twilight, I almost hesitated.

"You're not scared, are you, Lady Wolf? Or is the pressure of this 'destiny' to cleanse your world too much for you?"

I growled and passed through the twilight.

"Ah, that's much better." Zant appeared beside me when I arrived in a twilight covered Faron Woods. "I prefer this beauty over the brightness of your world... but enough about that."

I felt the weapons disappear off my back.

"There, I relieved you of your burden. Don't worry, Lady Wolf- I merely placed them somewhere safe." The masked being assured me as we heard a strange wailing noise.

"That must be the lamentations of the spirit that resides at the spring." Zant mused. "Why don't you comfort it with your presence? I do trust you know where it is."

I didn't get too far, because when I went further down the path, I met up with three shadow beasts and another enclosed permitter of energy.

"Allow me." Zant let out a chuckle as he walked towards the beasts. "It's been..._awhile_"

I waited as the monsters approached Zant and he held his scimitars out and slowly held one out in front of him, and the other in front of his back. What was he going to do?

And then, I heard the sound of insanity incarnate as he let out a high pitched sound... and then spun around at a fast pace, like... I don't know how to describe it, but it was like watching a spinning top slaughtering and slicing it's way through the beasts, while letting out manic, high pitched laughing, which I was _not _expecting from the calm sounding person from earlier.

Zant eventually stopped and took a moment to catch his breath as the beasts fell to the ground and their remains were sent up into the portal above us. Finally, he was able to calm down and slowly stood upright, as if nothing had happened fifteen seconds ago.

"Now then." Zant calmly spoke. "Let us continue on our way."

_What _in Din's name had I gotten myself into and with _who_?!

-later-

At the Faron Spring, there was a strange mist above the waterfalls.

"_...Please... be careful." _A voice weakly cautioned. _"These woods have changed..."_

"_How can I help you, spirit of light?"_ I asked.

"Look... for my light... retrieve the light stolen by the dark beasts... and keep it... in this vessel... of light."

And then, I was bestowed what looked like glass grapes upon a vine.

The spirit warned me that the dark insects that held the light were as invisible as the people who were trapped in the light. I quickly figured out that I only had to tap into my senses. Sure enough, when I saw a strange blue current of energy, I could see through my senses that it was an insect. Upon killing the creature, a blue light came out, and when I made contact with it, it disappeared into the vessel of light.

"There are fifteen lights to collect." Zant commented. "You best keep an eye out."

-skipping ahead-

How is it that a normal human can see them?!

"W-what's with these bugs?!" Coro, the afro haired mean cowered in a corner. "They're so big... So weird... So creepy!"

His confusion as to why they suddenly disappeared- aka, when I killed them- made it worth my while.

-SKIPPING AHEAD-

The last two I found was near the monkey that Talo chased earlier, by the place that most people referred to as the forest temple.

"Someone...someone saved me?" She wondered. "Boy, lucky for me... ever since the boss went funny in the head, there've been scary monsters everywhere. Those village kids got lead through the woods for some reason..."

When I touched the last two lights, I felt a warmth flow through my body, and everything turned white.

When I came to, I found myself back at the spring, where the golden hues and black squares were vanquished by the natural beauty of the light and the sun.

The most important thing though, was that my body felt the way it was supposed to be again. I could tell by my eye level and that I wasn't standing all fours.

Zant pulled out of my shadow and look his hemet off. Though he was only a dark outline of himself, his eyes still glowed with their true color.

"It looks like all is well for you... and you regained your true form." He hummed in approval. "You are quite beautiful in your true form, Lady Wol-"

"I'M NOT YOUR LAPDOG!" I yelled, and relished the ability to speak again with each syllable. "I am grateful for your aid, but I never said that I could help you."

I quickly calmed down and sighed. "But I suppose I have no choice... and my name is Zelda."

Zant let out a chuckle. "You're voice sounds as lovely as you do... well, I best return to the shadows."

And then he vanished.

Like at Ordon Spring, a spirit emerged from the waters, only this time, it resembled a monkey, similar to those who roamed in Faron Woods.

"_My name is Faron." _It greeted me._ "I am one of the spirits of light who dwell in Hyrule. I use the life force of the gods to protect this forest, and I thank you for restoring the light in these woods."_

"_O, brave youth. In the land covered in twilight, where people roamed as spirits, you were transformed into a blue-eyed beast... that was a sign. It was a sign that the powers of the chosen one rest within you... and that they are awakening. Look at your awakened form..."_

In confusion, I looked down, only to see that my clothes had changed.

I wore dark boots over white leggings. I wore a white dress that almost reached my knees, and a purple-pink vest or shirt over it. I had leather shoulder guards attached to this shirt, but they were shaped so that I could wear a belt for a sword's scabbard over my body. My dress had sleeves which were covered by leather gauntlets, but my hair remained as it had been, before my transformation

-fourthwall-

"So in other words, it's a mashup of her original costume, with a little Hyrule Warriors in Skyward Sword in mind. Unless you want to picture something else, which is fine by me. Or in other words: FINALLY! I'm finished with covering a boring part of the game!" The fan fic writer then collapsed.

-sorryaboutthat-

"This was the garb intended by the gods, with inspiration of the past chosen hero." Faron explained as I admired the clothes. "She who possessed the power... She who was the Hero of Time... that is the true power that slept within you."

"Your name is Zelda... You are the hero chosen by the gods."

I was stunned.

"I..." I didn't know what to say. "I... I..."

"A dark power rests in the temple deep within these woods." Faron continued. "It is a forbidden power, that I and the other spirits locked away a long, long time ago. Because of it's nature, it is a power that should never be touched by any who dwell in the light."

"I'm just a shepherdess!" I protested. "I know the stories of the past heroes by heart, but I don't consider my self to be one. I was named after the Hero of Time and Hylia's champion, but that is only a mere coincidence!"

"The world weeps beneath a mantle of shadows, and so there is no other choice... You must match the power of the ruler of the shadows. Do not sell yourself short, young one...for much good tidings shall surely come about in your destiny."

And Faron vanished.

I sighed and examined my new attire, when Zant suddenly appeared in front of me.

"So, you are a chosen hero?" He seemed fascinated by this. "Perhaps that is why you became a wolf in the twilight. Yet, you do not wish this... why is that?"

I sighed. "I wish to save the children of my village... and I would willingly save my kingdom from the twilight, if it meant saving them from being mere shades, as well as bring back our future king to his throne." I closed my eyes. "It's just that-"

"_You don't understand! She's been branded by the gods!"_

I shook my head. "Never mind." Then I frowned. "Why are you still-"

"Regardless, I need to go to this temple myself. Perhaps you're friends are there."

"Are you going to be hiding in my shadow the whole time?"

"I am not as familiar with this world as you are. What would be the alternative: me ridding upon you- like a horse- or be carried around like a spoiled child?"

I didn't like that picture he just put in my head.

Then I realized something."There's one thing I need to do."

-Ordon Village-

I had returned back to Rusl and Uli's house, where I saw that Rusl was in very bad shape and Uli was tending to him.

"Zelda?!" Uli got up when she saw me. "You're safe!" She sighed in relief. "Thank Farore you were delivered back to us."

I glanced to Rusl- he had suffered great injuries and had fallen asleep.

"I know what happened to the children and Ilia." I began. "I don't know why, but..." I bowed my head in shame- I couldn't tell her that I had been spared over her own son when he had been kidnapped and I still couldn't understand why. "I am sorry."

I walked towards Uli. "I-" I took the sword out. "I also found this."

"Take it." Uli gave me a weak smile. "Please keep using it- it is safe in your hands."

"I need to tell you something." I began. "I'm going to go find the children. I don't know how but." I gulped and nodded. "I will go save them- especially Colin."

Uli didn't respond, and I worried that I had scared her, until she drew me into a hug.

"I appreciate that." She thanked me. "I would have understand if this terrified you, but I can't thank you enough."

"Besides." I responded as I hugged her back. "I'd rather it be me than Rusl. He needs to recover from his injuries."

Uli let go of me and then placed her hands on my shoulders. "Look at you." She smiled. "You look like you are ready to go off into the world."

"I promise I'll come back when I need to." I promised her before I turned to the door. "And send Rusl my regards."

"Wait."

I turned back to face Uli, who reached for a small wooden box near the sofa and she opened it up as I approached her. "Colin remembered your stories and wanted to give this to you."

I knew what she meant: Colin talked about this awhile ago.

I took the object from her and looked at it. "You both were fond of the old stories." Uli added. "I knew how much hope they gave you, and how much they inspired Colin. I believe that it will give you good luck on your search."

It was a gold brooch in the shape of the loftwing- an ancient bird, and part of the symbol of Hyrule- and in it, was a circular red stone.

I closed my eyes as a memory came to pass.

"_-So he turned the crystal from a sky blue to a blood red." I recounted the tale to Colin. "So that he could be remembered and that a part of him would always be with her, should her story be passed down throughout the ages." I traced my finger over the illustration over the fabled hero in my book and over the red brooch that she wore._

"_And that's why carrying or wearing red stones on a journey are important..." My voice trailed off as I felt a strange sorrow overcome me. "We wear them in hopes of becoming legends... but also so that we will never forget our friends and loved ones."_

"_Would you carry one, so that you won't forget me when you go on an adventure?" Colin asked._

_I smiled. "Objects can hold our dearest memories. Even if we forget, the objects can help hold onto our memories for us."_

I was able to clasp it onto my dress as tightly as I could. It gave me a strange sense of completeness that I couldn't explain.

"I hope you will return again to show me your shining face." Uli softly spoke as she helped pin the brooch somewhere on my outfit, over the bands that kept the leather shoulder guards tied together. "It does my heart good to see you well."

I clasped her hands when she finished. "I promise," I began to my surrogate mother. "That when I return, I will either have news, or that Colin will be beside me, along with the others."

I had to save Colin, Ilia, and the children. I was not a hero, but I wanted to be like one, so that I could save them.

-later-

I had been kindly warned by Coro that the forest had become foggy, and he sold me a bottle of lantern oil for my lantern.

"So, what is so special about this temple?" Zant asked me as I headed off towards the temple.

"A long time ago," I began "these woods were inhabited by the kokiri: children who never aged and were protected by the Great Deku Tree. These woods were protected by magic and cursed at the same time- those who were lost would turn into skullchildren or stalfos. When the last great war occurred, the kokiri were driven out of their home, and the magic vanished. All they left behind was the remains of their homestead, which became what we refer to as the temple- some suspect that the temple could even possibly what is left of the Great Deku Tree."

And sometime later, I found myself in a now purple fogged area of the woods... and the monkey from earlier stole my lantern.

Before I could curse at her, she placed it on a large stick and waved it at part of the fog, which vanished. She then gestured for me to come and she hurried off.

"Quite the little thief, isn't she?" A voice chuckled. "You were bested by a mere monkey."

However, the monkey meant well, and she lead me through the area and to the other end, where there wasn't any fog.

The journey to the temple lead me to a bridge that somehow found it's way into the woods, and, when I reached the final part of the pathway, I encountered a beautiful golden wolf with a red eye. I stopped, remembering that I was not an animal anymore and that the wolf would attack me.

The wolf growled at me, and I readied my sword.

And just when it lunged at me... all turned white.

I found myself in a strange foggy white world, where I could see landmarks in the distance.

Sensing that I wasn't alone, I turned to see the top part of Hyrule Castle and what looked like a stalfos in front of it: A stalfos with a single red eye, with a sword and ivy covering it's golden armor and shield. It held it's sword out and ready, as if to attack me.

With caution I approached it, with my own sword out, but just as I made to attack, it beat me and sent me flying, without killing me.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." A deep echo of male voice growled. "You may be destined to become the hero of legend... but your current power would disgrace those who came before you."

"I never asked to become a hero." I got up and glared at the specter. "I only seek to protect those I care for."

"And you must find the courage to seek that power." The specter replied. "And find it you must. Only then will you become such a person, as well as the hero for whom this world despairs. If you do find true courage and you wish to save Hyrule from the horrors it now faces... then you will be worthy to receive the secrets I hold!"

I took my blade out and glanced at it before looking up. "I consider myself more of a scholar than a warrior, ancient swordsman." I told him. "But though I have been taught how to fight with a blade, I am not one to refuse any aid I can receive."

The specter nodded in approval. "You are off to a good start."

He taught me but one lesson: the ending blow. He told me it was an old technique that would take life from the enemy while they were down, before they had a chance to recover. I only had to plunge my blade into their body when they were lying on their backs.

"Good." He approved when I had finished my lesson. "There are but six lessons left to teach you. Those are only for one who carries the blood of the hero... the one whose spirit is that of the sublime beast."

"Grow powerful. Test you courage. And when you find that you need another skill to overcome the threats that face you... search for the statues that howl with the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to the spirit of the beast to awaken me again."

Everything around me turned white.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Remember those words... farewell!"

-reality-

I got up with a groan.

"If only that had been a dream." I grumbled as I rested my head in my hand.

"You only fainted for no reason, Lady Wolf." I heard my companion reply.

That confused me. "You didn't see the golden wolf?"

"I saw nothing but the majestic trees."

-Forest Temple-

I had always been curious as to what exactly happened to the kokiri, but their mark was still in the temple, like an old memory from long ago.

Unsurprisingly, my monkey companion had gotten herself kidnapped. When I freed her, she wanted me to follow her somewhere.

She had wanted to lead me across a certain bridge, but then a large baboon came from the other end and not only scared her off, but sent a white boomerang that was covered in black smoke at the bridge and destroyed it. The monkey almost didn't make it off the bridge and I was horrified, but she quickly rejoined my side and clutched at my leg.

The baboon laughed at us and... slapped it's butt at me before he left.

...A baboon slapped it's _butt_ at me. Somehow, that was the most disturbing and weirdest thing I had ever seen, after all I went through the last few days.

"Juvenile humor aside, shouldn't you be following the monkey?" Zant asked as the monkey gestured for me to follow her again.

At one point, I noticed a pot that was moving and a very human like head poked out of it. Out of curiosity, I made to pick it up, and dropped it- freeing the creature inside. It... was some sort of hybrid of cuccoo and human.

Ok never mind: _this _was the most disturbing and weirdest thing I had ever seen, after all I went through the last few days.

"Phew! Out at last!" the creature was relieved. "Gracious... Once I got in there, I couldn't squeeze back out! You were a big help- thanks!"

"...Who_ are _you?" I managed to ask.

"I am Ooccoo!" She chirped. "I am currently seeking something in this temple. I do hope I can find it."

Was it the same thing I was looking for? "Uh... great." I waved and walked off. "I hope you find it."

"Thank you, ancient hero from Skyloft!"

I turned around in confusion. "What did you call-"

She was gone.

I shrugged and continue on.

Anyway after... that... the monkey wanted me to help rescue her friends. My journey lead me to the baboon and a room full of totems. As payback, on behalf of the monkey, I easily took care of him: see, I quickly found out that the totems were loose and wobbly and I knocked him to the ground when I could.

I gave him a proper 'spanking' with my sword, and the old baboon hopped into a totem while cradling is rump. When he fell, a nasty looking bug fell off his head and promptly died on the spot in a puff of smoke.

With a groan, the baboon got up while rubbing his head but when he realized that I was still there, he ran off through an opening in the room as fast as he could.

The boomerang-which he lost in the fight- then suddenly twirled up into the air and came towards me. It now glowed with a soft light and let out tiny leaves and a gale of wind.

-?-

"Oh! This is where I come in!"

-backinthestory-

"Hi!" A sweet, energetic voice greeted me. "I am the fairy of winds that resides in the gale boomerang. But you can just call me Lexi! Poor old Ook was only possessed, but you freed us from that bug, and now I got my power back!"

I was a little surprised. "You're the-

"Yeah, I'm technically the boomerang itself. Yeah, artificial weapon spirits used to be a thing back in the old days."

"So the old legends were true." I mused.

"So anyway, if you toss me at five different targets, I can hit them, no matter the order. Other than that, I'm actually supposed to stay asleep and wait for my intended master...along with serving as something else, but it's no problem."

There was a pause before Lexi added "By the way, that totem is moving on it's own."

I turned my head to see the shadowy form of Zant giddily moving on the center totem like the baboon and laughing his head off.

...I slowly turned my head back, all the while wishing that I hadn't just seen that.

"Anyway, I'm going to be going back to sleep now, but if you have need me, you know what to do."

As soon as I grabbed the boomerang, it stopped spinning.

"Um... thank you...Lexi?" I looked up, eager to find a way out.

-?-

"Yup!" Lexi cheered. "The gale boomerang is the one whose helping to manage this story!"

There was an awkward silence.

"Hey, it's better then the last three who helped manage the last fan fic! And I'm more focused than them! I'm not going to interfere with the story THAT much. Besides- what's the worst that could happen?"

-reality-

In the second to last chamber, the monkeys that I rescued formed a makeshift rope, and look me to the final room of the temple.

In this room was the biggest, deadliest plant that I had ever encountered. However, thanks to my attention to the environment, bomb bugs, and Ook, who actually delivered the bugs to me, I was able to defeat the beast.

When it died, the beast's remains dried up into a husk that turned into familiar black squares, which reformed into a strange artifact that I couldn't recognize.

"Well done." Zant congratulated me as the artifact came towards me and I took it in my hands. "That's what I've been looking for."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It is a Fused Shadow." He took it from my hands. "It's what the light spirit called dark power. Do you recall that the spirit told you how you must match the power of the ruler of the shadows? There are at least four known Fused Shadows... and I could tell you about them, but you must help me find the next one."

Zant made the Fused Shadow and a portal appeared under him. "Shall we be off?"

I looked around the room: because of this 'ruler of the shadows' this sacred place had become polluted with the darkness. The once poisonous water had been cleansed, and the monkeys were all together, with their leader Ook, and were watching me from a safe distance.

"...Thank you for your help!" I waved to them and smiled. "And I'm sorry about earlier!" I told Ook, who only waved in appreciation.

I guess I'm not a hero... but I was able to help the monkeys and restore peace to the reminder of a race that inspired many stories and played an important role in one well known story.

I turned to the portal and was sent back to the outside world.

* * *

><p>Never mind. I finished it all in one go!<p>

And in case you are wondering, this version of Zelda isn't a vegetarian...LOL. On a side note, the fact that Ooccoo looks like something from a Remedios Varo painting makes sense to me, in regards to her design.

The Hero of Time: It can be easier to deduce in the game that the tunic belonged to Skyward Sword link (the tunics look EXACTLY the same) but in this case, this outfit is in honor of Ocarina of Time's Zelda. Clearly, there's lots of questions coming from this, which will be answered in due time.

Wearing or holding a red stone on your journey: this addition to the story has two meanings. First meaning: look at all of Zelda's designs and tell me what is the one thing that remains the same, despite hue or placement. Second Meaning: some of you already know the reason to this. Guess which chapter I'm looking forward to writing. :)

Objects hold dearest memories: After I wrote that, I realized I accidentally wrote a bit of foreshadowing... but just how much foreshadowing am I actually hinting at? *evil laugh*

Why isn't the Hero's Shade the Ocarina of Time Zelda?

I already have something planned. End of story.

Spirit in the boomerang: Or Lexi, as we must call her. (She's rather well connected to some other characters too.) Anyway, remember the whole thing in Skyward Sword about spirits in swords? Yeah, I remembered that connection and applied it to this fan fic. You guys possibly remembered that too.

Lexi won't be popping up within the main storyline to talk or anything like that. Which is probably for the best for a _number_ of reasons.

Next time, I'm going to be splitting events in half because... ugh...


	3. The village target

HeroAlexa249: YAY! My favorite reviewer! I actually named Lexi, in honor of your username, as thanks. I'm still trying to balance his personality through what I know of him, and I suppose he DOES share some characteristics with Midna in this regard. (Midna is more sarcastic, where as Zant is...yeah.)

Ayako Zetra: That is a good question. I see that you remembered that little fact- we will see. I made it a point to warn Lexi for when I get to a certain chapter, but I don't know if she was listening to me or not. She was busy watching Youtube videos at the time.

...The parts that I want to write always feel too far away. I can't use most of them just yet, which, unfortunately, is making things a little flat, and especially in regards to Lady Wolf and Mc CrazyPants. They both have a back story, but the best I can do at this point is give you guys hints, before I can reveal my hand.

...Though, I'm giving my male readers a little something to visualize, for sticking through on this fan fic so far.

So, you may have noticed something by now: I seem to favor Colin. I do like him and, as a result of Zelda's backstory in the plot twist, it _does_ favor him.

And speaking of Zelda- I'm trying to balance out who she is as a character in the game, while keeping in mind that she wasn't raised to be a princess- as you will find out.

Also, I'm splitting this chapter in half.

Chapter 3: The village target

* * *

><p>"<em>Heroic Zelda... Do not think that Hyrule is now saved from the spread of Twilight. Leave these woods and go to the west, where you will find the land protected by the spirit Eldin. There, you will find those you seek."<em>

These were the words that greeted me, from Faron, when I was returned to the spring.

"As it just so happens, I also need to go to that region." Zant informed me from my shadow. "Of course, it's likely that it is also blanketed with the twilight. Meaning that you will become a wolf again, my Lady Wolf."

I glanced around the forest. "I suppose it's time to leave this region." I thought out loud. Part of me was actually excited: who knew what surprises were in store.

-the fields of Hyrule-

Although I had only been out in the fields a small number of times in my life, it still took time to get used to how wide out the land was before me, and how there were so few trees.

Of course, the biggest change was the hazes of twilight off in the distance. Although they looked beautiful, I could see the top of castle off in the distance, and I was reminded of who was trapped alone inside it.

"Just you wait, Your Majesty." I promised out loud. "I'll get rid of the twilight before you know it."

I then continued on my way to Eldin Province.

"You seem quite fond of your future king." Zant seemed interested in this. "Has he charmed you with his handsome face and noble airs?"

I almost stumbled in my walking and protested. "He is a good person! Of course I would want to help him! Even though he is in misery, he is still staying strong for his people!"

"What a shame." Zant sighed. "If only he saw your true form- he would find you to be beautiful beyond compare. Which you are, as many would desire to court you-"

I felt myself blushing. "What would a prince want to do with a goat-wrangler from a village on the outskirts of his own kingdom? My father was once a knight, but I don't even have a title or enough rupees to my name to even consider-

"Oh, I'm sure that the fact that you are saving your kingdom would place you beyond any mere lady of the court." Zant chuckled. "You would be surprised how little you need to be in the favor of nobility. However, I can make you a deal: if you help me, I can make it so that you can win the prince's heart and become queen of Hyrule."

I sighed in frustration. The last thing I wanted was to have the prince be _that _indebted to me.

"You speak too highly of me, but thanks anyway."

Not much happened on the way to the edge of the twilight... except the rather unusual looking mailman... who did look rather creepy.

When I approached the edge, Zant came out of my shadow and turned to me.

"Is there anything you want to say, before you lose your ability to speak?"

"As a matter of fact, yes: could you not talk about any plans to make the prince fall in love with me? Or treat me like an animal?"

"Your wish is granted, my Lady Wolf." Zant bowed.

With a sigh, I went through the twilight.

The transformation was far less painful, but once again, I was a wolf. I didn't mind it as much this time- being a wolf had it's uses, but there was also serious downsides to it.

Zant regained his true appearance in the twilight and took in a deep breath of air. "..._Splendid._" He sounded deeply pleased in a way that sounded as if he were aroused by our surroundings. "I feel much better in this lovely atmosphere."

"_Of course you would."_ I replied and rolled my eyes, but it came across as a cross between a growl and a whine.

"Enough of this. Let us move onward."

It didn't take long for me to find a familiar wooden stick, and I smelled it. I could smell Colin (grass, cinnamon, and apples) Talo (the smell of wood and mud) Malo (paper and ink... for some strange reason) and Beth (cinnamon, flowers, and something that reminded me of her mother's perfume.)

I smiled to myself as I could sense the trail ahead of me.

_I'm coming for you... and I'm coming for you, Colin. _I promised.

Unfortunately, we were stopped, due to the fact that the bridge was missing.

"So, I assume that we would need to find another way through." Zant spoke. "Perhaps you could take your map out?"

Thankfully, I then remembered the bridge back in the woods. I pawed at the exact location, which confused Zant.

"Why are you pointing to the woods?"

"_Trust me!" _I whined.

"...Very well." He then teleported us out of there.

He quickly understood when we entered the woods and saw the bridge.

"Ah... how did this get all the way here?" He wondered as he only took one look at the bridge... and then it disappeared.

"Magic comes easier to me than most of my kin." He replied before we returned to the gap, along with the bridge, which was carefully placed back where it belonged.

And then the shadow beasts stopped me... _again._

"Oh?" Zant seemed interested. "More playmates for me?"

And he proceeded to slash through them with his scimitars, like a mad man. I was forced to watch as he sliced through their skulls like butter and shuddered: even though he was on my side, it was unsettling. I couldn't figure Zant out, and part of me was concerned as to what he was also hiding from me.

"Well that wasn't fun." Zant pouted- no seriously, he _pouted_ like a child- when the beasts fell.

I slowly backed away from him, before he went back into my shadow.

When I entered Kakariko Village, I couldn't see any spirits... other than the shadow beasts. I was treated to yet another bout of insanity by my masked companion, who laughed his head off the whole thirty seconds before and after the slaughter.

He later sighed as he wiped his blades clean with a rag that appeared out of nowhere. "I would very much like to find a more worthy opponent. Could you possibly indulge me in the future, Lady Wolf?"

I wanted to tell him no and that I probably never would.

Much to my luck, I found the spring of Eldin, who gave me a vessel of light.

During my search for the light, I continued the trail of light, which lead me to the church.

And inside the church, were the children, along with three unfamiliar faces.

The children where gathered by someone who appeared to be the village shaman, and a young girl. The other occupant was a cowardly man who unintentionally increased the uneasiness of the room with his stories of the monsters and scared the children. The shaman and his daughter were far more level headed and calm, and I couldn't help but be thankful to them, especially when the shaman yelled the man's name and stopped him.

At one point Beth began to cry and Colin tried to reach out to her, but she slapped his hand away. I couldn't help but be a little irritated at her, since he was only trying to comfort her.

"Don't cry Beth! It'll be ok!" Colin tried to reassure her. "Zelda is coming to save us all!"

My heart almost stopped and yet I felt touched. Colin had that much faith in me...

When the others looked at him in confusion, He determinedly added. "...I can feel it!"

"_I'm right here Colin!"_ I tried to call out to him, but I was only able to let out a bark. I growled in frustration and bowed my head.

"That boy has faith in you." Zant softly spoke. "So sad it must be, the be in front of someone and not be noticed at all. You are chosen by the gods, and only that keeps you from turing into a spirit, or worse, into a dark being, when you enter the twilight."

I hated this- I didn't ask to be blessed. It had already done me more harm than good in my childhood, and now I couldn't even be in the same plane of existence as my foster brother. I almost preferred being trapped in the shadows with others, than be alone in my current state.

I looked once more at Colin and felt my determination grow: I had to save this land. I needed to reassure Colin that I came for him and the others, and I could only do that if I pressed onward.

-FIRE!-

***ING ******* TO ****!

It's very rare for me to get so upset- I normally prided myself for being able to keep calm, despite my anger, but this time, I couldn't stop myself.

During my search, I crawled into a shack. There were warnings that the building had flammable objects, and when I lit the fireplace, the bugs came out and started lighting everything on fire.

"YOU FOOL!" Zant roared at me as he escaped from my shadow.

And then he sprang up and through the roof, creating a hole in the process.

I cursed him all the way back to the day of creation for abandoning me as I quickly crawled out the way I came.

I quickly ran as fast as I could away from the shack and watched as it went up in an explosion of bombs.

As I began to feel guilty for what I had done, the traitor calmly, yet happily commented. "On the outside of things, it was quite an impressive display. Sure, you had to destroy a house to find the Tears of Light, but-"

I let out a mighty growl and gave him a death glare so terrifying, it was known to send the children running away from me on a bad day.

Zant let out a small cry of fear and backed away. "O-of course, L-lady Wolf." He let out a nervous laugh. "I did abandon you, didn't I?!"

"_You traitorous b******!" _I snarled.

And I also had to witness another "Zant moment" up in death mountain: he repetadly stomped on the beasts' backs, and I could hear their backs and necks snap.

And as usual, he was laughing over this.

The upside was that I got a glimpse at the gorons, although they seemed on edge and a little irritated.

I also serenaded with the golden wolf in an otherworldly dimension to a song that sounded faintly familiar, and was rather soothing (I recognized it as the Terminian song known as the song of healing). The wolf then promised me another lesson, when I would next encounter him.

-When all was said and done-

I sent Zant a glare when all was restored and I was back in my real form. I wanted to tell him how much I wanted to to kill him, but my better side kept me composed.

"You're still sore about that incident, aren't you?" Zant sighed. "Very well, I'll leave you be." He then disappeared, and the spirit of Eldin- a bird- appeared.

"You must be the light spirit who guards this land." I greeted the spirit.

"_That is correct. I am Eldin- and I thank you for restoring the light."_ it looked towards the mountains. _"The dark power you seek lies in the sacred grounds of the proud mountain dwellers. But already those grounds have been defiled, draped in shadow and seeded with evil. You must go to those sacred grounds and cleanse them."_

Eldin then faded away and turned into light.

Slowly I walked out of the spring and towards the village, until I realized that I was being watched.

I turned my head... and standing in the door way, was Colin.

"Zelda?!" He gasped in excitement, and was about to walk towards me, when Talo ran and knocked into him and sent him to the ground as Beth followed suit, followed slowly by Malo.

The children began to laugh and ran towards me, but I ignored them as I ran to Colin instead.

Just as he got up, I threw myself onto my knees and hugged him.

"Thank the gods your all safe." I squeezed him in my hug- to be able to hug and speak to him had never felt as wonderful as it did now.

"I knew you would come." Colin told me as he hugged me back. "I just knew it!"

I let go of him when I sensed the village shaman approach me and I got up.

"You are the one from Ordon whom these children spoke of?" He asked.

I nodded. "I am Zelda." I answered.

"We are well met." Renado politely greeted, but he was pleased. "I am Renado, the shaman of this town. And this..."

I noticed the cowardly man- whose name was Barnes, if I recalled- from earlier. He pulled his unusual metal mask up and eagerly chuckled, but Renado gestured to his daughter instead.

"This is my daughter, Luda."

Luda smiled at me as the dejected companion let his mask fall down before walking away.

"The beasts took us and left us to die..." Colin began as he turned to Renado. "But Mr. Renado found us."

"At first, I couldn't believe they had come from so distant a place as the Ordona Province..." Renado added.

"Yeah, I... We don't remember much." Colin continued. "All of a sudden everyone was captured, and then..." He looked troubled. "Until now... it's been like..."

"...A nightmare." Malo somewhat stoically, added, though I could sense his distress from the memory.

"Yeah!" Colin added. "It was like a terrible dream and we couldn't wake up..."

"Mmm... Nightmares are everywhere these days, it seems. This village had certainly seen it's share of recent hardships." Renado looked troubled too as he looked to Death Mountain. "The dark beasts attacked, but even worse was the sudden and inexplicable change in the mountain-dwelling Goron Tribe. They had long been our friends, but suddenly treated us as foes. Even now they refuse to permit us entry into their mines.

It strains the limits of belief... to think that such a gentle and proud tribe could change so suddenly... It makes me wonder if something in those mines is the cause of this change..."

He turned towards me. "In any case, you must take these children and flee, before more nightmares descend. I of course, cannot leave my village in such a time. There is no telling what may happen to us here... But it is my job to try to coax the gorons back from their recent change of heart."

At this, the children looked at me. They seemed as if they were expecting me to help, but there was also a strange... reluctance. As if they weren't eager to go back to the village.

"There have been monsters roaming the fields." I reluctantly recalled. "Even if I was guarding the children, I would rather take extra precautions. At this moment, the best I could do is to go and tell their families that they are safe."

-later-

The children were curious about what had happened to me, and I decided to be somewhat honest, even though I doubted that they would believe me. However, I chose to leave out the fact that I was collecting the fused shadows, and that my companion was still following me (I said that he was a companion from the twilight who aided me.), nor did I voice my doubts about him.

Nearly every element of the story manage to catch them in awe. Beth was especially excited when I told them about Hyrule castle and the prince.

"Is he handsome?!" She squealed.

"He is." I admitted with a smile.

And then I heard a chuckle that none of the others could hear.

Talo was especially interested when I told them about the monkeys, and he seemed happy to hear that they were safe. Other than that, Colin was enchanted by my stories, but he seemed uncomfortable, knowing how much trouble I had been through... and Malo was only faintly interested throughout the whole thing.

At one point, Barnes reappeared and began to angrily complain about how his shack had been destroyed. I tried my best to keep a straight face as I heard Zant laugh in that creepy tone of his.

It was sometime later, after listening to the children's stories, that I had asked Renado a question.

"If it's not too much to ask." I knew I was going to regret this and that there was no way this could work. "May I try to see what the situation is like on Death Mountain? I actually need to go up there and speak to them."

If I needed the next fused shadow, I needed to get through the gorons. However, I highly doubted I could just try to walk past them without any worries: did I look like I could stop them with a sword or my bare hands?

"It is far too dangerous." Renado warned. "They recognize strength! A normal person could never persuade them."

"But..." He grew thoughtful. "I do know one person who was able to best them and earn their trust. His name is Bo. You may know him as the mayor of Ordon Village."

Why did this not surprise me?

"I will speak to him and tell the village that the children are safe." I then frowned: really, it was a shame that it would take a long time to travel back to the village.

I _really_ miss Epona.

I sighed and began heading towards the entrance when I heard the sound of galloping... well, speak of the devil! It _was _Epona! Talk about convenient! She was galloping at me like something was at her hooves, and I realized that she was terribly spooked and was going to run over me!

I dodged and rolled out of the way and quickly leapt onto her while she was distracted. Quickly I put my wrangling and horse ridding skills to use until I was able to calm her own. She had taken me on quite a ride, and I was close to falling off of her, but I held on as the village nervously watched on.

When she finally slowed and calm down, I was able to get her to stop.

"It's only me, girl." I reached out and patted her neck, glad to be reunited with her once again. "You must of had quite an adventure!"

"Well wasn't that entirely convenient!" Zant spoke from my shadow. "You reunited with your horse, just when you needed her!"

I ignored Zant and made my way out of the village, and into the fields.

"What is so special about the blonde boy?" Zant then asked me from the shadows as I made Epona head to the woods.

"Colin is my foster brother." I explained to him. "His parents took me in when I was a child, before he was even born."

"I couldn't help but notice that one of them was glaring at the boy on occasion."

I sighed in annoyance. "_Talo." _

I continued. "Colin is a sweet boy, but he doesn't know how to stand up for himself. It allows the other children to target him and push him around. They all look up to me, but they aren't thrilled with the fact that I'm closer to Colin."

"...Would you believe me if I said that I understood all too well what he was going through?"

I almost stopped Epona. "You were bullied as a child?!" I had a hard time believing this.

"I admit that my behavior can be rather... off-putting. Could you not tell?"

Honestly, I thought Zant was more likely to be on the giving end, rather than the other way around.

"Ah, but I promise you that eventually my life became more bearable. Like him, I had someone who was there for me."

-here comes your fan service, male readers-

...WHY?!

Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I went to all the houses in the village and it made me immensely happy to see all the parents relieved to find out that their children were safe.

"Thank the gods." Uli sighed when I told her the news.

I looked at her swollen belly and smiled. "Should all things continue to go this smoothly, Colin will soon meet his new brother or sister."

And then I went to Mayor Bo to tell him the news about the children. When I was asked if Ilia was amongst them, I hesitated- I had almost forgotten about her.

Mayor Bo understood, but I still felt terrible about it. I told myself that she was possibly still out there and that I would need to ask Mayor Bo about the gorons.

I learned that gorons were sumo wrestlers, and that was the way to get their trust. Mayor Bo promised to teach me how to fight... but...

Sweet Farore, I didn't need to see the mayor without his shirt... or without his pants. Yes, I _know _that I shouldn't make a big deal about one's appearance, or their weight, but..._ that_ was not going to leave me anytime soon.

Alright, I did have to wear the traditional Ordon pants and belt and I had to wrap my chest with special bandaging, like the Sheikah tribe would sometimes use for practice... except it left everything down below exposed, and there wasn't much over my shoulders... and my hair was still hanging down. Normally, I only dressed like this in the summer time, when Ilia and I would go swimming, or be occasionally joined by the children.

And then Talo wouldn't stop looking at us... little pervert.

I could almost hear Zant laughing about this: I really hoped he wouldn't make any comments about how I'm almost half naked.

So... I guess that I shouldn't be talking, when Mayor Bo wasn't wearing much. Though I was growing desperate to picture anything but...ugh.

I tried to think of something else... something more pleasant... I then imagined the volunteers who came from other parts of Hyrule, dressed in the pants and belt... with a nice toned body... someone with hair that could be brownish blonde... nice blue eyes...

...And it was at this moment, I realized that I had accidentally fantasized over the prince being half naked. To my horror and embarrassment, of course.

And then I felt something hit me and I found myself pushed towards the outside of the ring my Bo. Instinctively, I pulled my stomach in as I tried to get out of his grip, so my stomach wouldn't accidentally touch his.

-Zant's take, in Zant's POV-

You should have seen the look on Lady Wolf's face when she was standing there: it's like when Midna has one drink too many.

Silly girl- I could tell what, whom, and why, was going through your mind.

Also: you're not my type, but the view was still pleasing to behold.

-Back to normal POV... sometime later-

"...So, your mayor cheated." Zant stated as I headed back to Kakariko Village.

I had been able to best Mayor Bo in the ring and shoved him out, but then he told me that he used the iron boots in the ring, in order to win against the gorons.

I didn't know what was perplexing: the fact that he cheated without the gorons knowing about it, or that the shoes managed to fit, without being too big.

-?-

"Even in this version, magic is always the answer." Lexi merely commented. "...And 'cheating' as we all lovingly put it."

-thisisnotasubliminalmessage-

"Well," I decided. "I suppose it's going to be the only way. Not everything is fair in life."

"I think I'm starting to like you a bit more, Lady Wolf." Zant declared. "You and your kin are a rather devious lot, aren't you?"

"By the way." He added. "You were thinking of the prince, weren't you? I saw that look on your face earlier- you were trying to distract yourself from an unsavory sight, weren't you?

I was about to make a comment, when I noticed something up ahead.

It was the bulbins from before- and they were entering the village.

"Oh no!" I panicked and made Epona go faster. "Hurry Epona!"

I pleaded the whole way through for them to not do anything. I prayed that they wouldn't try to kidnap the children again.

But to my horror, when I entered the village, I saw their leader- a grotesque green ogre of a bulbin- hold up a small figure, for me to see. My heart stopped when I identified the child.

It was Colin.

I growled as they escaped to the other end of the village and had Epona pursue them.

"You are _not _taking Colin away from me again!"

* * *

><p>...Oh Zelda. The world won't stop putting you through hell- after all, you're only hylian.<p>

Also, in case you are worried, Zant is _not_ going to be romantically interested in Zelda. That was something I struggled with, last time (as some of you may have awkwardly recalled.) but I see nothing that I can play around with, and I don't really want to since I'm not the extremely rare Zelant... or is it Zanda?

...But it doesn't stop Zant from enjoying the nicer side of a view. :D


	4. Dark Fire

Ayako Zetra: LOL. I don't think calling someone a Hylian would be racist if it's the same as calling someone from America an American. Ever since they used the term 'human' in the games, it throws off the difference between humans and hylians. To me, the more traditional 'humans' resemble the residents of Ordon Village, who have round ears, while the Hylians have the more elven ears (and, in theory, their ears are like that, so they can 'hear the gods'.) Racism is a heavy possibility- especially if you are calling the Zoras 'fish people.'

Chapter 4: Dark fire

* * *

><p>"Hey Lexi."<p>

"Yes, boss?" The spirit from the boomerang emerged from said weapon. She looked _slightly_ like the Skyward sword version of Zelda- complete with the blonde hair and bangs- only most of her hair was tied back in a long braid that went to her waist, and she was also dressed in white, green, brown, and yellow, with a nature theme.

"Why didn't you remind me that I was supposed to include the next training scene?"

Lexi thought back for a moment:

-flashback-

"_Hey Masamune!" Lexi called out to a rather lengthy sword. "Your wielder is a whiny god complex of a mess and there are villains who are a lot better than him! And you're a cheap sword! You're a walking compensation device and you shouldn't even be possible to wield!"_

_Masamune silently looked at her._

_Then, he came out of the sword, picked it up, and pointed it at Lexi._

"_Oh, what are you going to do?! Fight me?!" She scoffed._

_And then Lexi saw a mass army of humans thundering towards her, from behind Masamune. _

_She immediately paled."Ah... right," She weakly laughed. "The fanboys."_

_-end-_

"I wasn't doing anything productive." She replied.

HolyMaiden24 sighed. "Since I like you, I'll let you off the hook, but if this happens again..." She went to her laptop. "I guess I'll have to insert a flashback sequence."

-FLASHBACK! Within the story!-

"_We meet again." The ancient swordsman greeted me. "You have a little more of the look of a hero than you did before... Do you feel ready to earn your next skill?"_

"_I am." I replied._

_He first tested me, to see if I remembered the ending blow. When I successfully showed that I had, he then taught me the shield attack._

_When he had finished, he voiced his approval, before he added. "The path to becoming the true hero is a long one, but once you have grasped all of the hidden skills, you shall be worthy of walking it. You must persist on the lonely path of the sword to obtain true courage and earn the strength to conquer the great evils of the world!"_

_Such words didn't reassure me. Especially the mention of walking on a lonely path- it made think back on the past that I wanted to forget._

"_Am I truly fit to be a hero?" I asked the shade. "I still don't feel like one. I feel as if everyone has such expectations of me, but I'm afraid that I will let them down: I'm afraid of what that title means for me."_

"_You will soon know that answer." The shade replied. "You will not have to feel like a hero, in order to be one... you will see..."_

_-_reality-

I followed the bulbins out into the fields of Eldin, were I could see a bridge, the remaining twilight covering Lanaryu Province... and the bulbins themselves.

And tied to a mast, on the leader's bulbin, was an unconscious Colin.

The bulbin gestured for me to come to him. In response I pulled my sword out: if it was a fight he wanted, so be it.

The then blew into a horn, summoning out reinforcements that came galloping from behind me.

I then pursued the King Bulbin across the fields, all while avoiding his men and their arrows. I pushed Epona to get as close as possible and attack him, but even when I had managed to do so, the bulbin still had a fight in him, and eventually took our fight to the bridge of Eldin.

By then, the sun had set, and turned the sky into a natural twilight of red and yellow.

We both leapt over the wooden barriers, and I realized that the King Bulbin had intended for this to happen. He had taken me to a bridge without any protection on either end- one false move, and you would be sent into the dark abyss below.

I glanced ahead at the King Bulbin as his archers set the barriers on fire. Colin was still tied to the mast... Colin was going to be in danger if I wasn't careful, and I began to be afraid.

"Zant, I have a favor to ask of you." I began as the hog that the bulbin rode pawed the ground. "If that beast falls off the bridge, get Colin for me."

Epona reared up and we raced towards the other end, where the ride and rider were also charging towards us.

My heart began to race and adrenaline kicked in.

_Please._ I prayed as hard as I could, from the depths of my heart. _Guide my sword, heroes of old. Let me save my brother._

I approached the bulbin... I made my calculations... he was coming closer to me... closer... _closer._

I was terrified of making one wrong move, but I told myself I needed to be brave, for Colin's sake.

My hand swung out, and I felt the sword collide into my opponent.

And King Bulbin fell off his ride, into the abyss below, while his ride rode off to the other end of the bridge, with Colin in tow.

Epona stopped and reared up, as I raised my sword to the sky. The light that reflected off the blade gave me a comforting relief as I became aware of my triumph.

_Thank you._ I mentally thanked as my heart rate began to slow down, but my hands were still shaking.

-later-

I set Colin down and rested him in my lap as the children, Renaldo, and Luda gathered around me.

They all told me what had happened: when the monsters came charging through town, Beth had been paralyzed with fear and was in their way, but Colin, despite the danger, had pushed her to the side and was captured as a result.

Colin then slowly opened up his eyes and looked up at me. He was slightly dazed, but otherwise fine.

"...Z...Zelda?" He slowly asked.

I smiled and nodded my head. "It's me."

"Is everyone...ok?" He asked as he looked around at the others. "...Good." He blinked and smiled before turning to Beth. "Beth...I'm sorry. You know... for shoving you. Are you mad?"

She shook her head.

"I..." Colin looked back at me. "I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you..." He reached and open hand towards the sky. "He wasn't talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave..."

He clenched his fist and it fell to his side. "Zelda... You saved me, didn't you?"

"I was scared." I admitted. "I was afraid of losing you, but I knew that if I didn't do anything, I wouldn't have the chance to save you."

"You... you can do anything. You can do something to help the Gorons in the mines too, can't you, Zelda?"

I nodded. I was definitely going to keep that promise.

Colin gave me one final smile before exhaustion took over and he fell asleep.

The children rushed to his side and Talo- of _all_ people- tried to give him a ride on his back, but Renado took over.

Renado nodded at me and went to the inn, while the children followed him.

I then looked up at the mountains.

"I hate to be a bearer of bad news," I heard Zant speak. "But you may need a shield that's more durable than the one you possess.

I sighed. "Your right."

As I headed to the shop Zant added. "By the way- what you did back there was impressive."

I shook my head. "I think what Colin did was far more impressive."

I entered the shop... only to find Malo behind the counter. Or at least I found him when I looked over the counter.

"Hey." He warned. "You can look at stuff, but don't you dare take anything. That MY valuable merchandise. You want it, you pay for it..."

"...Malo, what are you doing here?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"I decided to take on this unmanned shop" He answered. "Buy something. It helps the whole village if you do."

"Did the village give you permission?" Good grief, I didn't know if he was just playing around or being serious about the whole matter.

"You will help the village if you buy something."

I gave up and noticed a hylian shield. "How much for that shield?"

-later-

"You will never pass!" A Goron defiantly assured me when I approached him, on the trail to Death Mountain. "You cannot hope to match our b-

"Zant, could I have the boots, please?" I ignored the Goron. In turn, I felt the boots appear on my feet. They weighed me down, and I didn't have time to test them out before hand, but I knew what to expect, according to the villagers.

The Goron curled up, revved up, and rolled at me, but I had my arms out and ready to catch him, like he was a runaway goat. The boots kept him from knocking me over, and I tossed him over the cliff, like he was nothing.

Zant was amused by the event when he took my boots off. "These brutes aren't smart, are they? That one will die off shame, knowing that a fragile hylian tossed him aside."

"I'm also a goat wrangler." I merely replied. "They aren't so different."

For most of the trail, I had to stop (or 'humiliate', as Zant lovingly put it) many Gorons.

Unfortunately, I had a new woe to worry about, when a large chunk of rock came flying from the sky and crashed into the ground in front of me and nearly gave me a heart attack.

"Such a dangerous environment." Zant noted. "Is this a traditional welcome here?"

There were numerous eruptions that caused rocks to fall from the sky, but other than that, I put my shield attack to good use against the Gorons and made my way to their home.

I had Zant put the boots on me when I went inside- I had a suspicion that the locals wouldn't be happy to see me. Unsurprisingly, at least six of them began to roll until a voice yelled out "ENOUGH!" And they stopped before I was run over.

Two Gorons parted to reveal a smaller Goron. "Is this young one such an imposing enemy that you must all gang up on him? I think not Little Brothers."

"I appreciate your kindness." I began as I walked my way towards him (Zant quickly made the boots disappear.)

"I am a Goron elder, little human. I am called Gor Coron." He greeted me.

"I am Zelda." I greeted him. "I come from Ordon Village, where Mayor Bo dwells."

Gor Coron smirked. "How is our honorary brother?"

"He is well, but his daughter, Ilia- who is also my friend- was kidnapped by bulbins." I saw a reason to give to the elder through this. "There is something in the mines that could help me find her... provided that I am given your permission, of course."

Gor Coron frowned. "Because of certain... circumstance, I must lead the Goron tribe in place of Darbus, our tribal patriarch. I admit, you have done well to come this far. You are strong... for a hylian. However.."

He crossed his arms. "The mines beyond here are sacred to my tribe. Outsiders are not allowed. Unless..." He grinned when he saw me determinedly nod my head.

"I could make an exception... but you would have to beat me in a contest of power. Are you willing to try that, little hylian?"

"Yes." I replied.

There's not much I can say about the match. It wasn't as bad as the one with Bo, and the boots really came in handy. And I even felt a proud satisfaction when I knocked Gor Coron out of the ring- to the shock of all the Gorons, who had been so sure that he would win.

When the elder was knocked out, he looked at me in surprise, but he was impressed. "Young warrior.. You have a strong will... and sharp eyes."

He got up. "Fine traits... Want to see how well you can use them?"

He explained to me that after the mountain began raging (explaining my "warm welcome" from earlier.) the elders and the patriarch went to investigate the cause. They had a treasure that Eldin entrusted to them that was supposed to be protected, but when Darbus touched it, he became a ferocious monster, causing destruction in the mines, and the eruptions worsened. They were forced to seal him up as a result, even if they didn't want to do so.

"I ask this favor of you, young warrior... Go to the aid of Darbus!" Gor Coron pleaded. "Make no mistake, the spirits have guided you here. I Gor Coron, need your help... On behalf of my entire clan, I ask you for your aid."

"I will see to it." I answered. The talk of their patriarch made me think of the prince, and, based on stories, I heard that Darbus was good. If he was anything like the prince, I would do whatever it took to help him. "He must surely be a good patriarch, if you care so much about him."

I was allowed passage, and I was then given fair warning of the traps and monsters, before I went inside...

...And it was like entering a summer in Ordon Village, except ten times as hot. I was wishing deep down that I could wear a different set of clothes and I began to envy Zant, for being able to hide in the shadows.

The mines weren't safe- there was lava everywhere- but the boots came in handy, as there was some sort of rock or mineral that allowed me to walk on them, like magnets.

"Are you having fun?" Zant asked as I began walking upside down.

"I'm more worried that I'm going to fall out of the boots and break my head into my body." I confessed. Plus, it felt as if all the blood was rushing into my head.

I met the other three elders in the mines- all three seemed to have an air of eccentricity about them, but they seemed more friendly than Gor Coron. All gave me parts to the key to Darbus' cell, and they said that there was a weapon that the hero of old used that could be of use. They also warned me of the guardian of the mines, who was protecting both treasure and patriarch.

Said guardian was a gigantic Goron covered in amour, who resided in a lava filled room, where a magnetic circular platform was placed.

"Whoa... human?!" He got up from where he sat and cracked his knuckles. "What business does a human have doing here?! None! No business! This is a forbidden place! I will protect this treasure from you!"

"Someone had yet to be informed." Zant sarcastically commented to me.

The Goron leapt high up and slammed into the platform, which snapped and fell into the lava.

What ensued as a slightly more complex version of the encounters with the Gorons, which combined the wrangling with the wrestling. I doubted that I would be able to do something similar with such a large goron, but the environment came into my favor as I threw him off the tilting platform and into the lava.

I f felt sorry each time I did that, as he cried out in pain from hitting the lava. This lasted until he finally had enough and landed on the platform as his helmet was knocked off... revealing a face that wasn't the attractive of faces, but somehow appeared to be oddly cute at the same time.

"Ugh, that... hurt a lot..." He groaned as he rested. "Who knew hylians were capable of such strength."

"I'm really sorry that I hurt you." I winced as I apologized. "That sounded really painful, when you landed in the lava."

"Apology accepted..." He gingerly got up. "...Uh... Maybe... you are... going to see the patriarch of our tribe?"

"I was sent by Gor Coron for help." I replied.

"Ah!" The Goron was relieved and quickly regained his strength. "So THAT is why you are here! In that case take the weapon of the Hero of the past! But in exchange, you must save the-"

The platform suddenly jolted and we were almost knocked over. It jolted a second time and I heard familiar maniacal laughing...

...And apparently Zant decided to enjoy himself with the tilting platform and was jumping up and down on it, causing it to jolt and rock and threaten to knock us off... for whatever reason.

...Seriously, _what_ was his deal?

Anyway, I found out that the weapon was a bow, that was still in good use, and since I have had experience with archery as practice, using it was like second nature to me.

And for the rest of the dungeon, I avoided speaking to Zant... until I entered the cell of Darbus.

Inside, was a chained, monstrous beast with a glowing red gem on it's head. It became aware of my presence and it's black body burned with an enchanted fire as it broke free from it's chains.

It took me ten seconds to figure out what to do, and I used the bow on it's forehead to attack the gem. As it clutched it's head in pain, I pulled at it's chains, with help from the boots, and attacked the gem until it shattered. The process repeated for a few times until the gem finally broke.

When the gem shattered, the beast turned black and lost a good deal of it's mass, which turned into the black squares, which became a fused shadow. My only concern though, was for the beast, who had shrunk in size and collapsed to the ground in defeat as it turned into a more familiar Goron shape.

"Well done, Lady Wolf." Zant appeared in front of me as I held the fused shadow. "That leaves two more..."

"I hope Darbus is ok." I glanced back to the collapsed Goron, but Zant wasn't finished.

"Since you've been helpful, I think I'll tell you a story as a reward."

I looked back to him. "The one responsible for casting the shadows over your world... her name is Midna. She is properly known as the Twilight Princess: does that not sound suspicious to you?"

"She is beautiful beyond compare, with a deadly wit and sharp tongue, and she is very powerful... you are not a match against her, in your current state. However, I have the knowledge of spells that she does not possess..."

"In some ways, she is no different than your kingdom's beloved prince." Zant chuckled. "But to have a ruler who was ill prepared for war... such a pampered life didn't prepare such a boy. How does that teach duty?"

I found myself glaring at him.

"I admit that I'm not fond of him." Zant took the shadow from me, and it vanished as he turned around. "But he was born into such a life- it wasn't his choice- and, in some ways, he amuses me. But as long as I can take the fused shadows..."

I began to feel distrustful of Zant when he said that. I didn't know what he wanted with the fused shadows, and after seeing what they were capable of, I was worried as to what his intentions were.

And I did not want to be his pawn, if some of my suspicions were correct.

Zant made a portal appear, but I my my way to Darbus instead. Sluggishly, the Goron got up, shook himself, and rubbed his head. "Unngh... Urrgh..." He grunted. "Hmm? What am I doing here? Unngh... My head, it aches... So much pain... I cannot remember anything..."

He noticed me, and I held a hand up in greeting.

"Your people need you, Patriarch." I said. "It's not in my place to say why, but it would give them much relief if you go back to them."

"...Who are you?"

I only smiled. "I am Zelda of Ordon Village."

And, on that note I left.

-spring time-

I returned to Eldin Spring, where the spirit waited for me.

"_Heroic Zelda... North of here, across the plain and past the great stone bridge, in the lands guarded by the spirit Lanaryu... You shall find one who you seek..."_

I became aware that someone was near by and I turned to see Renado, Luda, and the children- including a healthy looking Colin.

"Zelda..." He began walking towards me, but collapsed when he reached the shores of the spring, and I ran and knelt beside him, grasping his shoulders when I did.

"Ilia..." He began and looked up to me in determination. "You got to save Ilia! Those monsters left me with the others, but they must have taken her somewhere else!"

"Whenever I thought I couldn't go on, I would think of you and Ilia and hold on..."

I watched as he got up and was able to stand. "See? I... I'm fine now." He assured me.

I smiled. "I'm glad to see that."

"Remember what I told you back in Ordon, Zelda?" He began as I got up. "That when I grow up, I'm going to be just like you? So you don't have to worry about me anymore! Go help Ilia!"

"I will" I promised, before I cupped a hand over the broach. "And Colin... thank you for this. It has given me a strength that I needed. It's true that the past heroes have worn red stones... but Colin... I think you are a hero, and that your red stone lies within... because you reminded me that true courage is being brave, in spite of your fears." I smiled.

Colin melted with an ecstatic smile as Renado approached us. "Leave the children to me. I will watch over them, I swear it."

"Thank you." I nodded in appreciation.

"In Hyrule, countless tales are told of the ancient hero." He began. ".. and your deeds bring them all to mind."

"May the graces of the great goddesses who shaped Hyrule bear you on your way." He and his daughter then bowed, and the children followed suit.

"...Thank you." I politely spoke.

I suppose that ancient shade was correct... I didn't need to feel like a hero to be one.

But I still felt a doubt in my heart. And I was afraid that my doubt would increase, when I had to possibly return to the castle town... where the root of my troubles were born.

* * *

><p>And so, Zelda is starting to be a little more suspicious of Zant.<p>

I'm sorry that not much had happened in this chapter that didn't differ too much from the game. In the next chapter, I can have a little more free reign over creativity: I can explore more of Zelda's back story, and provide my own take an a certain scene that you guys are familiar with.

...It's still tempting to use Nabooru as the main villain, simply for the sake of having Ganondorf has the sage of Spirit in a special Ocarina of Time one or two shot edition of this universe. There's not much to do with an Ocarina of Time version, but that change would be pretty fun to explore. (especially considering how much potential Ganondorf could have.)


	5. Waters of the past

Early update! I'm ahead of schedule, for once... due to having too much free time.

ThePastReliesOnMemories:...Uh, isn't that scene _before_ the 'illuminating' moment? Other than that, I _was_ referencing that battle.

Lets see if my version of a certain scene is more 'wtf' than the one in the game... maybe not.

Chapter 5: Waters of the past

* * *

><p>Before I left the village, I was able to buy some bombs from Barnes... who was the owner of the bomb shop and the shack that I blew up earlier.<p>

Zant thought the whole thing was funny and wouldn't stop snickering over it.

After that, I rode Epona across the fields of Eldin... until I was stopped by the running mail man.

As he was giving me the letters, I was trying to imagine what it would be like if there were other mailmen running around... someone who looked cute or handsome... someone with a nicely toned body with that hat and those short shorts and with his arms and legs exposed... with brownish blonde hair and blue eyes...

...Oh ****t to high end- WHAT IS _WRONG_ WITH ME?! WHY DO I KEEP ENVISIONING THE PRINCE LIKE THIS?!

"Lady Wolf!"

I snapped back to reality to see that the mail man was gone and that Zant's shadowy form was staring at me.

"You need to stop having fantasies in your head. I can see them as clear as day."

...SON OF A-

Well, after a few moments of calming myself down before I could actually blow up in front of Zant, I made it across the fields and the bridge. There was a set of boulders that I was able to blow up with my bombs, but the moment I did, a pair of shadow beasts came from the sky _and_ a section of the bridge disappear.

"I got this." I told Zant as I got off Epona. "I think its my turn to have 'fun' with these beasts.

One fight and ride on Epona later, I made it to the final portal to the twilight realm. I was concerned about leaving Epona alone, but I then realized that she had been able to survive the twilight before and somewhat reluctantly left her behind.

"Two Fused Shadows left and one part of Hyrule still covered in twilight." Zant emerged from my shadow. "After this, you will surely win the Prince's favor- after you finish helping me, of course."

"I hope this is going to be the last time I turn into a wolf." I sighed as I kept Zant's words in mind. "It was fun, in a way, but it's had too many disadvantages."

And so, I entered the twilight.

"What a shame." Zant spoke as I came through the other side and turned into a wolf. "I'm going to miss the beauty of this world of perpetual twilight. Ah well."

As he entered my shadow, I hurried along my way until I caught the scent of honey and a certain type of flower that grew in the Ordona province. I followed my nose until it lead me to a familiar bag that was normally attached around Ilia's pants.

As I took in the scent, the memory of when I first met her came into my mind.

"_Hi there!"_

_I glanced around as I continued to pet the goat and saw a girl around my age._

"_Do you like animals too?" She asked as she approached the goat and began to pet it with me. "I love animals!"_

"_...Yes." I answered. "There used to be a bunch of cats where I lived. I like cats, but my favorite are wolves."_

_The girl looked at me as if I were crazy. "Wolves like to eat our livestock!"_

"_Wolves are beautiful." I smiled as I turned to her. "You just need to see them on a moonlit night to see why." I recalled on of the few happier times I had with my father, when he took me out to the fields to watch the wolves roam from afar._

"_You're new here, aren't you?" Ilia asked. "My name is Ilia."_

"_I...I'm Zelda." I nodded._

From then on, Ilia became my friend. We grew up playing amongst the forests and the animals of Ordon... she was the sun, and I was the moon: the energetic one and the quiet one. And, along with my surrogate family, she helped me leave behind the shroud of depression and solitude caused from the life I had left behind.

Ilia's scent was faint, but I could still follow it- I needed to know that she was safe.

However, I almost froze when I saw how close I came to the castle. While it signified the prince, it also signified something else, and I began to worry.

"What's wrong Lady Wolf?" Zant asked me. "Are you thinking of the prince again?"

I shook my head as I felt my face grow warm and continued on.

-town-

The trail lead me right to the place I had left behind many years ago: Hyrule Castle Town. It was as I remembered it to be: beautiful and full of people of varying diversity. I told myself to stick to the trail and that if I did, I wouldn't let the past catch up to me.

llia's trail lead me right into a bar, where she sat by the bedside of a young Zora child, and a heavyset woman by her side. My heart leapt in joy and relief to see Ilia look well and unharmed as she began to fret over the boy.

"This boy- can you save him?!" Ilia frantically asked.

"All right, little lady, try to settle down, OK?! I just now sent for the doctor!" The woman reassured her. "But this is strange... a Zora child.. I wonder if this is at all related to the incident the soldiers were talking about in back..."

Even though it was nice to see Ilia again, I knew I wouldn't be able to reunite with her just yet.

"Aw, the girl doesn't realize that man's best friend is here, and she can't even see her."

"_Thank you for pointing that out Zant." _I rolled my eyes: it was easier to be less reserved as a wolf, for whatever reason, and it had been affecting me as a human.

A quick eavesdrop on the soldiers told me that something was wrong at Lake Hylia. A quick look at the map told me where to go and I then made my way.

Unfortunately, I found myself lost in the town. I had a hard time maneuvering through the streets, and I found myself entering a very familiar part of the town, where the middle class residents presided. As if fate had ordained this to happen, it was here that I found one specific house.

It wasn't much- just a simple light colored two story house that was well cared for and showed signs of having occupants... a family, judging by the number of toys that were left outside.

It was the house I grew up in.

-past-

_I recall my childhood as if it were yesterday. I remember playing with my dolls in the front yard and acted out the stories and legends of old, and dreamt of one day going off to partake in many adventures. I also had very recently found out that mother was going to have a baby in the future, which meant a sibling and a playmate for me._

_One day, I heard the sound of laughter and looked up and beyond the gate: I could see a young boy- no older than me- trailing behind a man with graying hair. It was clear that both of them were well off, judging by how nice their clothing was._

"_Hi there!" I cheerfully greeted the boy, who, upon noticing me, began to shyly hide behind the man._

"_It's ok." The man reassured the boy. "I know this child- she is Sir Gustav's daughter."_

_The boy's eyes then lit up and ran to the gate._

_Eager to make a friend, I hurried to the other end and clasped the bars. The boy was about to introduce himself, but then he noticed my hand- the one that was bandaged up._

"_Oh, that's nothing!" I laughed. "Father says that my birthmark is sensitive to the sunlight, that's all. So I have to keep it bandaged up whenever I go out!"_

"_Oh?" The boy seemed interested in this._

"_Yeah, you want to see it? Oh wait, I'm sorry!" I laughed at my silliness and poked my hand out through the bars. "My name is Zelda!"_

_The boy smiled and held his hand out. "My name is-_

_What happened next, I never understood- I still don't to this very day. The moment my hand grasped his, I felt a burning sensation on the back of my hand and a vision flashed before my eyes._

_All I saw was fire and a pair of yellow, animal like eyes that stared at me with intense hatred in the darkness. Those eyes shook me to the very core as they looked at me in a strange recognition._

"_I'm coming for you." A dark voice echoed. "I can sense you calling out for me-"_

_I yelped in pain and recoiled away from the boy and into my mother. The vision vanished from my eyes._

"_Sir Auru!" She gasped as she pulled me towards her. "What on earth-?"_

"_I'm sure it's just children being children!" The man gave her a wave as he grabbed the boy's shoulder and quickly began to lead the boy away._

_The boy gave me one look- a look that said that he had felt the pain and had seen those eyes._

_A few days later, I was playing with my dolls again, around the time that my father came home._

"_Don't worry Skull Kid." I smiled as I held up a pink and yellow doll along with a raggedy looking straw doll, and acted out an old story of another country. "I can be your friend too. I'll make sure you'll have lots of friends when I come back to Hyrule and then-"_

"_What's with that look?" I heard my mother from downstairs._

"_Auru told the king about the birthmark," My father told her. "Somehow, he found out. And the king wants Zelda to come to the castle."_

"_But why?" She wondered as I slowly approached the top of the stairs and listened in._

"_He wants her to live in the castle."_

"_But that's a good thing, isn't it?"_

"_And deny her a real childhood? It's bad enough that she bears the mark and that we have to make her hide it! They could make her do things that she wouldn't want to!"_

"_Because of a silly birthmark that looks like-_

"_You don't understand! She's been branded by the gods!" My father roared. "It's bad enough we have to make her hide it, in the event that someone would want to kill her!"_

_Sometime later, my father left our house. I overheard him tell mother that he was going to find the one thing that could at least make sure that I was prepared for the inevitable, if not rid me of my fate. Despite my mother's protests, he left home that very day._

_That was the last time I saw my father_

_-present-_

"Lady Wolf?"

I snapped back to reality.

As quickly as I could, I ran from the neighborhood as fast as my feet could carry me.

-bridge-

I was immediately aware as to what was wrong when I found myself on the bridge over Lake Hylia: the lake was almost completely dry!

And when I crossed the bridge, a strong odor hit my nose. Something that smelled like the oil for lanterns.

"...It smells rather peculiar, doesn't it?" Zant commented.

I sniffed the ground... it smelled it the oil. I then glanced up to see a twilight monster let a flaming arrow loose from it's bow, which went all the way to the other end of the bridge, where a fire was lit.

I growled as it let off another one much closer to it. I was immediately trapped on a bridge, with the walls of fire quickly approaching me.

"Jump off the bridge!" Zant commanded me with a frantic high pitch in his voice. "Never mind the height- I'll take care of that.

I cursed the heavens as I noticed a box and began pushing it to the edge- I did not want to do this. This was the kind of stuff I tried to avoid back in Ordon, but I had no other choice.

Forcing myself not to think, I leapt onto the crate- and then the ledge- and time slowed down as I leapt off.

My stomach churned and my heart pounded as I made my descent. I knew that there was no way that I would survive this. The ground started to get closer... and closer... the water became closer, but not even that reassured me.

Suddenly, I felt a darkness engulf me, just before I was ten feet from the water, and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my body.

And a moment later, I was at the shores of what remained of the lake.

Zant slowly put me back down until my feet reached the ground. He then let out a "Harumph!" sound and slumped foreword.

"That was too close, my Lady Wolf." He breathlessly spoke.

To make this part of the journey short, I'll be brisk.

I overheard a garishly dressed clown like man complain about the lack of water, and mentioned the Zoras who lived up river, and the spring, which was out of reach. Upon heading to the river, we were stopped by a large flying beast, and it's rider. I took down the rider, while Zant eagerly hopped on the beast and quickly tamed it.

"Hush now! I am your master!" He commanded it. "Settle down!"

The bird creature gave up and relaxed and Zant stroked it's neck.

"Good... I do love having a pet that can provide transport." He looked down at me. "Would you care for a ride? I'm afraid it will have to carry you in it's claws."

Growling, I allowed myself to be taken by the bird. It's grasp was painful on my chest and under my arms as it took us up the river- never mind how many obstacles we had to avoid. Meanwhile, Zant was having the time of his life, letting out an excited, childish sound now and then, and he was rather sorry when we reached the top and had to let the beast to fly away.

"What a shame. I was becoming so fond of it, that I was even considering names for it." He then looked thoughtfully at the sky as I became aware of how cold it was in these parts (to the point that it seeped through my fur). "I was thinking... Jeorge."

"_...Wait, what?" _I gave him a quizzical look, but he didn't see it.

The rest of my trek lead me to a howling stone (and a serenade with the golden wolf) and I saw that the water was slowly turning into ice and snow... until I found myself in a frozen region, where a once mighty waterfall had frozen over.

This was the Zora's domain... but where were the Zoras?

When I went up the waterfall- with Zant's aid- I found my answer after Zant went all out on a number of shadow beasts, like usual. All I had to do was look down at my feet:

An entire tribe of Zoras were stuck in the ice, in the domain.

"Those are the Zoras?" Zant was surprised. "What happened here..." He then looked at me. "We can't leave them like this, can we?"

That took me by surprise. It was very rare to hear any concern for another's well being from my companion. Besides myself, of course, but he needed me alive.

"We would need to thaw them out." Zant began to think. "But how could one do something like that?"

I began to think... and Death Mountain came to mind. I barked for Zant and tried to make a sign of opening up the map. When he responded, I pawed at the mountain.

-one pit-stop later-

"This is going to be enjoyable." Zant was eager as we returned to the domain... I was more worried that we would harm the Zoras.

The large chunk of rock crashed into the icy domain and was hot enough that it melted the ice, which became water again. The spirits that resembled the Zoras safely came out of the water- much to my relief.

"Who knew that something so dangerous could come in handy." Zant pondered. "But now that the water is flowing, we can visit the light spirit."

After I quickly checked on the Zoras- who were weak, but healthy- I made my way back, but then I was stopped by a voice.

"Wait!"

I looked over the domain and an ethereal specter appeared. She was a Zora who appeared to be graceful- beautiful even- and yet, there was an air of sorrow about her.

"Please, you must allow me to thank you for revitalizing both my people and the spin, which is the water source for all the lands of Hyrule. In life, I was the elder of the Zora village and the queen of my people. I was called Rutela."

I stared in awe before knelt down and bowed my head out of respect for the queen.

"We didn't exactly have your people in mind." Zant spoke as he appeared beside me. In turn I shot him a look and growled at him in anger before I returned my attention to the queen.

"The dark ones.." Rutela frowned. "They raided this village and, as a message to my people, executed me before them."

"Young woman... You who take the form of a proud beast... I have something to ask of you. When the dark ones descended upon our village, I sent my young one, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to inform Prince Link of our late. But... I fear danger followed him from this doomed place." She then looked distressed. "I feel it. His presence grows fainter to me over time..."

"But my time in this world has passed, and though I would give it gladly, I no longer have a life to risk in his rescue. Please... would you save my dearest, Prince Ralis?"

I nodded my head. I wanted so much to tell her what I knew, but I couldn't.

"If you do this thing, I will bestow upon you the protection of water." She continued. "This power will grant you the ability to swim and respire in very deep water as if you were a Zora. Please... save my son..."

She then faded away.

I turned to Zant. He had remained oddly quiet throughout the conversation.

"...We should go." He finally spoke.

-Lake Hylia-

One quick shortcut later, I made it to the spring, which was in a grotto. Along the way, I saw that the lake had been restored to it's natural state, and it was a pleasing sight.

As usual, the spirit was weakened, and bestowed upon me the vessel of light, in order to find it's stolen light.

As usual, my quest took me all across Lanaryu province, from Lake Hylia, and all the way to the Castle Town.

I thought that I had finally collected all the lights, but then Zant said:

"I sense a presence..." He pulled the map out. "Strange... it's back at the lake."

When we returned to the lake, I saw something large moving in the water.

I nervously swam towards the source- something felt off about this whole thing, and when my senses were heightened, the lake was casted in an unsettling darkness. To make matters worse, I heard the sound of thunder.

I finally reached a series of platforms, and when I got on one of them, the water began to bubble and boil... and out came a large hideous, pulsating, grotesque bug, with nasty tendrils on it's body.

...Let's just say that when I had to bite it, as soon as it got close enough, the taste was revolting beyond compare. When it finally fell on it's back, Zant decided to give me some help.

"Let's hold it in place." He chuckled as he sent out a field of red energy, which froze the bugs... appendages. (I didn't want to know what they were, and I hope I never find out.)

I then rushed at all of them, until the bug finally died and I had collected the last light.

-Let there be light-

For the third time, the light had been restored, and I regained my human form.

"And so, we can find the last shadow." Zant spoke, before he vanished. "Don't take too long with your friend and the prince."

From the spring came a serpent like spirit.

"_My name is Lanaryu." _It spoke._ "Your efforts have at last restored each of us light spirits in Hyrule."_

"I am pleased to know that Hyrule has been restored to it's proper form." I nodded my head. "Although there is still much that I need to do, I am glad to have been of aid."

"_O Hero chosen by the gods.. the dark power that you seek.. It waits in a temple set in the bed of Lake Hylia... But before seeking it,"_ Lanaryu then cautioned me. _"You must now bear witness to something... and never forget it. You must know that it was the will of the goddesses that we lock away the forbidden power."_

I felt a drowsiness overcome me and I almost feel asleep. I then closed my eyes-

-And I found myself floating in darkness.

"_When all was chaos, the goddesses descended anf gave order and life to the world. They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light and then returned to the heavens."_

I watched a recreation of the creation of Hyrule play out before my eyes. I knew it so well, that I knew the symbolism, all the way down to the three colored lights and what they did as they brought forth a path of green earth.

I found myself standing in front of this green earth and I realized that I wasn't alone. I turned my head to see my mother and my father- they looked exactly as they had been... when things were happier. They looked at each other and were laughing.

In surprise, I almost called out for them and reached out a hand, but I saw that it was smaller than usual: I had been turned back into a five year old child. With a guarded caution, I looked back at the scene.

"_The lands where the goddesses descended came to be known as the Sacred Realm."_

Then the lights formed a symbol I knew too well- the symbol on my hand... the Triforce.

"_For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body... But soon, word of the sacred Realm spread though Hyrule, and a great battle ensued."_

I noticed something in my mother's hand... a knife.

I watched in horror as she raised it to her head and was about to stab father, but he was faster as he drew his sword out and aimed it at her neck.

I let out a scream as my father made to chop my mother's head off...and all turned white.

I was left alone with the weapons when the scene returned and I ran towards the Triforce, with tears in my eyes... I wanted to get away from the horror behind me, and yet there was something powerful pulling me towards the Triforce... as if it were calling out for me.

But then, appearing in front of it, were versions of the adult me. And yet they were cloaked in shadow, with gray hair, black skin, and eyes that burned with red fire.

"_Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic appeared."_

They laughed as a large, strange statue appeared, blocking the Triforce from me and I nervously stopped.

"_Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm."_

They raised their hands at me and I felt a strong wind rush at me. Even though I tried to block it, it was no use as I was then disintegrated into dust.

"_It was then that the goddesses ordered us light spirits to sealed away the great magic those individuals had mastered."_

And I watched from a distance as the interlopers- including one, who had completely taken my form- initially laugh in triumph, before the statue disappeared. They turned towards me in horror...

And the one who bore me shape let out a blood curdling scream.

"_You know of this magic... it is the power that you seek... the Fused Shadow." _

I was numb: everything to me was black and yet I felt this odd sensation fill me...I felt a heaviness in my chest, and yet I felt light in the head.

I felt a pair of hands touch my shoulders and I was slowly turned around. Facing me, in his cloak, was the prince himself. He wore a secretive- almost seductive smile, as if something was about to happen.

"_O hero chosen by the godesses... beware..."_

He pulled his hood away from his face- but instead of a calming blue, they were a sickly yellow that I had seen only once before, in a vision from a long time ago.

I was aware of a second pair of hands grab onto my wrists. I looked down to see them coming out from the cloak of the prince.

Then, I felt hands from every angle grab me, covering me, and I felt myself be drowned in a sea of the prince's hands. I felt pleasure, and yet at the same time, I was being suffocated by the weight of the hands that caressed me. All the while I heard the chuckling... and then the cruel laughter of the prince.

"_Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before long, be ruled by it.. never forget that."_

And just as I was losing air, I then woke up, as if from a dream.

Drained by the event, I collapsed to my knees.

-D.A.R.E... be educated kids! Don't do drugs!-

Lake Hylia's beauty calmed me down as I made my way back to the castle. I was glanced to see that the land had returned to normal again.

A talk with the clown hinted that I needed to go to the temple to find the shadow, and Zant seemed more eager to allow me to find the prince.

"You have acted rather strange lately." Zant finally spoke. "Especially in the Castle Town. Would you like someone to speak to about the matter?"

"It's nothing." I shook my head as Epona found me again. "I doubt you would want to share your story."

"If the town is a source of woe for you, it will hinder our progress."

"I grew up in the Castle Town, and I had a bad childhood there, ok?" I finally snapped. "I was born with the mark of the Triforce: my father worried that I was chosen by the gods for something important and that someone would find out and try to kill me because of it. So they made me hide the mark, and didn't let me go out often or play with any other children, until the king somehow found out about me. I was offered a home at the castle but my father refused and left me and my mother to try to find a way to 'save me' from my fate.

I then closed my eyes as I tried to fight off the painful memories. "And then... things went downhill from there. My father went missing and was believed to have died and my mother-" I shuddered and rubbed the back of my hand. "Rusl- a fellow knight and friend of my father- then took me away, before any damage could be done. I don't know what has happened to my father and I hadn't returned until today."

There was so much that I should have said, but I didn't want to: the past was too painful, and it was making me doubt myself.

"...Like I said before, I too had a bad childhood." Zant spoke. "It was different from yours, but-"

I shook my head as I got on Epona and rode off. There was nothing that could be used to compare me to Zant.

When I found the golden wolf, I welcomed the escape from the past, and found myself in the odd comfort of the ethereal realm, where the ancient specter waited for me.

-?-

"It appears your efforts have begun to return some vigor to Hyrule, but it's far too early to relax." The shade cautioned.

"I was afraid you would say that." I let out a weak chuckle as I drew my sword. "But your words on what it meant to be a hero ring true. I was able to overcome my fear and save my foster brother, who taught me what true courage means."

"And that is-?"

"To be brave, in spite of one's fear." I replied. "Although I feared for Colin's life, I overcame the fear of the risk of losing him, rather than do nothing."

"A good answer." The shade nodded. "Do you feel ready to earn another hidden skill to steel yourself for the forthcoming battles against more powerful foes?"

"I do." I replied.

The shade then taught me the back slice, and when I successfully performed it, he was once again pleased.

"You are becoming a fine warrior in your own right." The shade complimented me. "You must do your kin proud."

My eyes drifted to the castle in the realm. "I'm afraid that it could have been the opposite. My foster family would be proud, but..."

The shade was quiet for a moment.

"I sense that there is still a lingering fear inside you." He spoke. "You will need to confront that fear, or else it will be your greatest hinderance... unless you are still deemed worthy for what has been waiting for you, since birth."

That part confused me. "What do you mean-

"Do not neglect your daily sword training between now and the time you come to learn the next skill! May we meet again!"

-LOLOLOL-

I groaned as I got up. "Bloody ghost stalfos- even he won't stop pestering me-"

I heard a strange humming and looked around, before I realized that it was Zant. He was humming a strange melody as he was waiting for me to wake up.

I looked at the castle and as I remembered the prince, I no longer felt dread. I realized that I had now freed all of Hyrule from the twilight, and the prince was now free to return to his people. In addition, I could once again reunite with my friend llia, which I was eager to do so.

And for once, after so many years, I felt happy thinking about my hometown.

With a lightness in my heart, I raced across the bridge, into the town, and didn't stop until I reached the gate to the castle, where the guards where positioned. Music was playing from the performers, and it reflected the happiness in my heart.

"What can I do for you, miss?" One of the guards asked.

"I have a message for Prince Link!" I beamed as a part of me felt like a dreamy eyed child. "Tell him that the blue eyed wolf wishes the prince well: may he become a fine king, upon his coronation, and may he not neglect those who live in this wondrous kingdom!"

"Uh... sure?" The guard nodded in confusion.

"It's utmost important that he gets this message! He will know the meaning of those words!" I then rushed from the gates. I wanted to tell those words to the prince myself, but he would know it was from me.

Maybe I _did_ have an affection for the prince, but that moment I didn't care as I raced to the bar, where Ilia and Ralis were.

As I entered the bar, I heard a raspy old voice harshly speak out. "That is a Zora child! This is beyond my expertise! Hmmmph!"

An haunched old man bumped into me as he huddled towards the door. I stared in mesmerized shock when I saw him look at me though his bug eyed spectacles, before he made a final "Hmph!" noise and walked out of the door.

"Doctor wait!" The voice of llia spoke and she rushed to the door and right next to me. "If something isn't done, this child will..." It was too late and she dejectedly turned away.

She finally looked up at me... and then looked away as she made her way to the prince.

I stared in shook. "I...Ilia?"

As Ilia returned to the slumbering Zora child's side, the large set woman- who had a lovely white cat by her feet, spoke. "Well, this isn't good. A human doctor won't do, huh..." She wasn't happy about the old man, and seemed irritated by him.

Ilia sat by Ralis and as she slumped forward in defeat, she was joined by the cat, who leapt to the young prince's side, but kept it's distance.

"That old coot reminded me though..." the woman grew thoughtful. "I've heard of a shaman in Kakariko Village, in the Eldin lands, who's tended Gorons and Zoras."

Ilia then eagerly shot up and faced the other woman. "Is that true? Perhaps if we take him there..."

"Inadvisable! Too dangerous!"

Our attention went to the soldiers who were still loitering in the bar. They seemed eager to help because one of them then said "But we can't turn a blind eye to a pretty girl in need either. Yes, we'd better escort you! Am I right boys?!"

They then let out battle cries and held their weapons up in eager anticipation. The whole thing seemed rather amusing, but I had my doubts, and even the bigger woman sounded unconvinced.

"Well, isn't that nice. To reach Kakariko, we've got to cross two plains that are each infested by dangerous beasts. But we will be safe now."

At this point, the cheering ceased and the knights then ran past me and out of the bar as quietly as they could- leaving one stoutly knight behind.

This knight realized that he had been abandoned by his comrades and scampered out of the bar after them.

"COWARDS!" The woman angrily yelled after them with her fists on her hips. "Don't EVER show your faces here again!"

She noticed me. "Oh my! Looks like we've got one young swordsman left!" She sounded hopeful to see me there.

I recalled Rutela's request and stepped up. "I can help escort the child. I know this shaman- he will not turn the boy away."

The woman smiled in relief and glanced to Ilia. "Let's get ready to go, honey. Pronto!"

I watched Ilia eagerly run to the other side of the bar, and the woman noticed.

"You know that girl, don't you?" She approached me.

"She's a friend of mine, from Ordon Village." I replied. The woman gave me a pitiful frown.

"It's a real shame... She can't even remember her own name right now."

"...Oh," I sighed. "That explain's why..."

"Bless her heart," The woman turned to Ralis. "She found this poor boy collapsed in the road, so she did all she could to save him. More courage in that girl than in all the soldiers of Hyrule, for sure!"

"She can be stubborn, but she means well." I weakly smiled. "I guess we need more people like that.

"You lend your strength to her, you hear me?" The woman made me promise.

I gave her a small smile. "I will." I held my hand out. "I'm Zelda, by the way."

The woman took my hand and shook it with a firmness that also felt comforting to the touch. "And I'm Telma."

* * *

><p>GAH! SO MUCH FORESHADOWING! I want to get to specific chapters, but we still have a bit more to go. Also- hey, Zelda finally called Link by his proper name! It was only mentioned at least once, until this chapter!<p>

Postman Link: Hyrule Warriors, you always give us things we fangirls never knew that we needed until we see them. :D

Zant naming that twilight bird thing: Actually, that was a nod to Tauberpa's Twilight Princess Abridged, which can be found on youtube. I highly recommend it.

Zelda's backstory: there's still more to cover. I can't give everything away, but it's going to play an important part later.

Next chapter: Midna get's her proper introduction, Zelda must deal with llia's memory loss and another part of her past, the Lakebed Temple... and someone get's their sweet 'illuminating' revenge on someone (from the reader's perspective.)


	6. Of treacherous waters

This chapter is going to conclude the "ahead of schedule" streak.

Ayako Zetra: The heart of the wolf which keeps her strong, eh? I'm going to have to use that line for the next chapter. ;)

Patrick the Mighty Observer: I'm glad at least one person is showing interest in that idea.

This chapter is going to be one **big **roller coaster- it will be funny, it will be serious and it will be what leads to this:

BIG, MAJOR, WARNING! We will see more of Zelda's past and it's going to have a rather dark moment that will make some of you uncomfortable because it will contain an attempt at mutilation. You may have the option to skim through it, or avoid it all together.

Chapter 6: Of treacherous waters

* * *

><p>For once, after so many days of seeing eternal twilight, Link finally saw the natural sunlight peering through his windows when he drew open the curtains.<p>

"Your Majesty!" a hand knocked on his chamber doors.

"Permission to enter is granted." Link spoke and he turned to see one of the castle guards open the door- the man looked to be very out of breath and braced himself against an outside wall as he regained his stamina. Link patiently waited, before the guard could finally speak.

"I have a message!" The guard continued. "It's rather cryptic, but it's of good tidings."

"Go on." The prince nodded.

"The blue eyed wolf wishes the prince well: may he become a fine king, upon his coronation, and may he not neglect those who live in this wondrous kingdom!"

This greatly interested Link. "Who told you this message?"

The guard thought for a moment. "It was a young woman- a swordsman by the look of her. A rather pretty one too."

"...Thank you for telling me this." Link thanked the guard. "You're free to go... what is your name again?"

"Tuomas, Your Majesty."

"Thank you for giving me that message, Tuomas. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, Your Majesty." Tuomas was grateful- the prince truly was a good ruler, and the guard was among many who were happy to serve him.

Link felt a joy in his heart as the guard closed the door. Zelda had saved all of Hyrule and he greatly appreciated all that she had done for his people. She was a good, kind soul, and he doubted that he could ever thank her enough, should he ever see her again.

He found himself to be curious as he approached his dresser: the guard had said that the woman was beautiful. There was no doubt that it was Zelda, but it still made him curious to know what she looked like in her proper form. Perhaps he could extend an invitation to his coronation to her, should things continue to go as they did.

He pulled his hood off as he headed to the dresser and pulled one drawer out. He took only one object out- a green cap.

The cap was an ancient design, that dated back to the knights of the legendary Skyloft, and was made by his mother when she was still alive. Because of it's significance to the Royal Family and Hyrule itself, the accessory was something that the prince dared not touch, after he sacrificed his right to the throne, but now...

"Thank you, Zelda." he finally smiled a real smile after so many days as he put the cap on his head and properly secured it so that it would stay in place. Wearing it made him feel like himself again, before his father's passing. He had doubted if he could truly be the king that Hyrule needed, and especially after he was forced to surrender, but now, he felt more sure of himself.

"How sweet- your precious wolf saved the day."

He froze when he heard that voice.

"...Midna." He calmly greeted. "What are you doing here?"

The woman emerged from the shadows, from behind, with a wicked smile on her face.

"I came to check on his highness, when this world became so irritatingly bright." She answered. "And I see that it was the wild wolf that captured the future king's heart."

"You have no power over my realm anymore." Link turned to face Midna. "What more could you possibly want?"

Midna drew closer to him. "So much more, Link." She was almost right in front of him now. "I need power," She ran a hand on his cloaked shoulder and down his arm. "I need something that's been hiding in this kingdom from my people," She then cupped his chin. "And I need something that you possess."

Link gently brushed her hand away from him with the back of his own hand. "And that something does not belong to you." He declined.

Midna smirked. "I'm not done with you, Link. Your kingdom is once again bathed in light, but I will keep you chained to the beauty of the twilight."

She then gave him a fierce grin. "And as for your precious hero- it's true that she is beautiful. But I will make it so that you will never lay eyes upon her true form. She will forever be an unobtainable wolf, while I remain the only one without compare in your life."

Link let out a fierce growl. "If you lay a hand on her, I swear I'll-"

Midna laughed. "I think you're the true wolf, Link, by the way you are behaving. But regardless, you and all of Hyrule will be completely cloaked in darkness, when I finally accomplish what I had set out to do."

"By the way." She added. "I too am the barer of news. Let's just say... an old acquaintance to the Royal Family would like to meet you." She then but on a mock-thoughtful expression. "Now who could that be, I wonder?" She then giggled and then disappeared into black squares that rose to the ceiling until they vanished.

Link ran a shaking hand over his face. "You won't have my Kingdom." He swore. "I'll make sure of that... even if I have to..."

-Zelda's Journey-

When we left the town, Telma and Ilia took a wagon, in which Ralis rested, while I rode beside them on horseback.

After I told them that the Bridge of Eldin had been destroyed, we then found ourselves on an old amphitheater, looking at the bridge over Lake Hylia, which was guarded by bulbins.

Or, to be more specific, it was guarded by an old enemy of mine.

"It looks like I'll need to take out those bulbins." I spoke as I looked at the King Bulbin. "I've had a bit of experience with _that_ one in particular."

And so, we made our way to the trail to the bridge, and Epona and I stayed by the wagon's side.

"Th-thank you so much for this." Ilia spoke looked out from the window of the wagon at me. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

I tried my best to smile. "Zelda- that's my name."

Ilia seemed surprised by this. "...Zelda?!" She glanced up in thought.

I felt a pang of hope in my chest, but it quickly died when she thanked me. "I will never forget your kindness, Zelda."

"Little lady, I think you'd best save your thanks until we're safe in Kakariko." Telma kindly warned her. She then looked at me as I gave Ilia a melancholy look. "This swordsman- or should I say swordswoman- of ours has great eyes, honey. They're proud and wild... like a feral beast. We need a beast right now, to keep the true ones at bay. If we make it to Kakariko safely, we'll just thank him then, ok?"

Telma then gave me a friendly wink, and I felt better. I then reminded myself to stay focused for them, just as I heard Zant say:

"Oh, if only they knew just how much of a beast you can be, Lady Wolf."

"Are you ready to roll, Zelda?" Telma then asked. "Then be sure to protect these young ones on the way to Kakariko."

She then cracked the reins on her horse, and I made Epona go ahead, to scout out any bulbins.

To my luck, there were none, but when I came to the bridge, I saw my old foe on the other side.

"It's all clear!" I called to Telma as she approached me. "I just need to take out the one ahead of me!"

I charged at the King Bulbin and his ride, expecting to have to go through another jousting duel, but then I saw that he came prepared and bore a shield on each side of him. I quickly dodged him before he could hit me and took out my bow.

To my relief, he only wanted to face me, and had no intention of attacking my companions. He reared his ride around to charge at me and Epona, and I had my bow out and ready.

He liked to move around quite a lot, but I was able to send my arrow right into him as he moved to one side of the bridge, and he went soaring off into the lake below.

"You'll probably survive, with all that water," I spoke aloud as the wagon approached me.

"Nice, honey!" Telma complimented me. "Keep up the good work!"

I raced on ahead, but that's where things became difficult. I almost missed the archers on the cliffs above us and their arrows burned with fire tipped ends. It didn't take long for me to hear Ilia cry out in horror and I glanced behind to see that the wagon had caught on fire.

"Give me the boomerang, Zant!" I called out as I knew what to do, despite my panic. Said weapon then appeared in my hand.

"Oh hey there!" Lexi chirped as she spoke into my mind. "How can I help you tonight?"

Instead of responding I held the boomerang towards the wagon, which was slowly being consumed by the flames.

"Oh I seeeeeeeee-!" Lexi yelled as I threw the boomerang and sent her spinning at the wagon, causing her last word to be drawn out and decrease in volume as the distance between us grew. The gust that the weapon created was strong enough to blow out the flames and I let out a thankful sigh when they disappeared.

We hurried across the fields of Faron and Eldin, and I made good use of my bow, before the archers on their rides could let loose their flaming arrows. I only had to use Lexi at least one time on the fields of Eldin, but we finally managed to make it to Kakariko in one piece.

...Well, except for the now ruined wagon, and my throbbing heart and sweaty palms. Considering how close I was to losing my companions, I wasn't able to calm down until Telma was able to carry Ralis into the inn, and only then did I go off to the church to find Renado. And as I had hoped and known, Renado agreed to tend to the Zora prince and hurried to the inn, with Luda at his side.

"Uh, hey!" I heard Lexi's voice and I took it out in a place that was out of earshot.

"I'm glad I was able to help out back there! Helping people out is a nice feeling!"

I smiled. "It's me who should be thankful. Without you, who knows what could of happened?"

"Aw thanks!" Lexi sounded as if she was beaming. "Anyway, next time you need me, give me a holler- or a toss... whatever works."

-?-

"See?!" Lexi grinned at you- the reader. "I _do _have plot relevance beyond the forest temple!"

-?-

-Kakariko inn-

Colin and I waited anxiously outside, until Renado entered into the hallway.

"...He has passed through the worst of it. As long as he rests, he should recover in due time." He assured us.

Colin and I shared a look of relief.

"Do you know the fate of his mother?" Renado asked and I looked up. "Her welfare consumes him. He has been mumbling deliriously about her almost constantly..."

I then felt uncomfortable and I shifted my gaze- apparently, the poor boy didn't know what happened to his mother. "...His mother was murdered."

"...I can see the knowledge grieves you. It must be an awful memory." Renado softly spoke.

"I'll stay with him until he's better!" Colin assured Renado. "No matter how long it takes!"

"Is that so?" Renado knelt beside Colin and placed a grateful hand on his shoulder. "Thank you Colin."

As they spoke, I peered through the door to see Luda and Ilia tending to Ralis. I knew that the boy would be in good hands... but as for Ilia...

How was I going to tell the children about Ilia?

Awhile later, Colin and I went outside, where Telma was waiting.

"Hey, Zelda," Colin began. "About Ilia... is it true, what they said about her?" He didn't want to believe it- I could see it in his eyes. Ilia meant as much to him as I did.

"Yes, she has lost her memory." Reando spoke before I could. "And regaining it will be no simple task. But it will be alright child." He assured him. "Is we just give her some time, I am certain that Ilia will find her heart again."

"So, Colin, I'd like to ask you to stay in this village until then. It is our turn to show the courage that you have already displayed."

With a gasp and a smile, Colin then ran back into the inn. I told myself that one day, when I was given more freedom I would tell him all about the rest of my adventures.

"Thank you." I bowed my head to Renado. "I wish I could stay for them, but I'm afraid I am needed elsewhere."

In turn, Renado gave me a small bow. "May you come back to us in good health." He replied, before he walked off.

"Nice to see there's still hope here." Telma commented with some happiness. "And it's always good to see happy results repay your efforts..."

"Thank you for watching out for Ilia." I told her. "I'm glad that you found her."

"You're welcome, honey." Telma replied.

"Those skills of yours," She then spoke, and I turned to face her. "...Any chance you're of the mind to put them to use for Hyrule? What hope there is in our kingdom is frail and dying... but there's still a group trying to do what it can. And I'm a member of that group."

She smiled and raised an eyebrow at me before she went to the railings and rested her arms on them. "I may just stay here a bit longer. I'm still worried about Ilia, and... Well, never mind about the rest."

I saw her glance to Renado and quickly figured out what she meant. I didn't see her approach me, and when I did, I almost saw more of her than I needed when she entered my space, before I could reel back.

"Zelda, I want to see you again at my bar, you hear me?"

She then relaxed a little. "The bar is actually a kind of safe house for my friends. There's a passageway that leads to the castle from in there as well."

She began to run off like a teenaged, love sick girl, before she added. "If you ever need anything, stop by. I'll be waiting for you!"

"I'll consider your offer!" I waved at her.

I watched as Telma ran off to Renado and began to speak with him. I doubted her chances with him, but then again, the world had worked in mysterious ways so far.

I was about to enter the inn, when I sensed a presence. I turned around to see the ghost of Rutela looking at me with a thankful look in her eyes. She then drifted off, but she never faded away.

Wordlessly I followed her through the village. She took me into the cemetery, and went through a stone with the symbol of the Zoras. The stone glowed and faded away to reveal a crawl space that I then went through.

And I then found myself in a beautiful grotto, filled with shimmering lights and a headstone across a body of water. Rutela was floating over the headstone, and I swam through the water, to the other side.

"I am deeply grateful to you for aiding my son in his time of need." She began when I was out of the water and dripping wet when I stood by the headstone. "You were right to bring him here. Kakariko Village is a sacred place for my people. It is where we take our eternal rest."

"My husband in life, King Zora, also rests his spirit here. It is no coincidence that my son found his salvation in this place." She glanced to the grave. "That which I have promised you is within this grave. During his lifetime, my husband created garments specifically for the chosen hero. Garments that house the abilities of the Zora."

The grave opened up by itself, revealing the armor in a crevice.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." I spoke as I took the garments and glanced at them. They were very beautiful- blue, gold, and silver- and boasted a special mask, headpiece, and armor. "And I give my thanks to your husband." I gave her a bow, out of respect.

The queen gave me a satisfied smile. "Now, at last, I can join the King in slumber." But she then frowned. "And yet... my son... He still knows nothing of my death. If you see him again, please pass on this message... Tell him he must not grieve his mother's passing. Tell him she wanted him to be brave and live on as the king of our people."

She gave me a very sad smile, full of love and pain. "And.. Tell him his mother.. loves him without end. Tell him..."

She then faded away.

I felt my eyes tear up and I sat down with the armor in my hands. I felt pity for Ralis... but I felt a small jealousy at the same time.

As I ran a hand over my face, Zant's shadow appeared and made the armor disappear for me. "How pleasant it was, to be able to find your friends and acquire such garments."

The tears began to fall and I moved my hand away from my face to look at it- it was the hand with the birthmark.

"She loved her son..." I began. "She did all she could for him at the very end." I then shook my head. "But my mother... what she did-

-past-

_My father's salary as a knight allowed mother and I to live in our house, and it sustained the both of us for awhile. It was difficult though, since my future sibling was still growing inside my mother, to the point that my mother's belly became swollen up, like a balloon._

_But one day, everything was about to get worse._

_A neighbor came over to take me to her house, with her own baby in her hands, when my mother didn't come home. The neighbor was known for being an eccentric noblewoman, with a fondness for bugs, and happened to be a good friend of my mother, so I was comfortable around her._

_Mother didn't come home for several days, and when she did, she had a tired, haunted look about her and a flat belly, but no brother or sister in her arms._

"_What happened?" I asked the neighbor one day when I was being watched at her home. At the time, I was playing with the neighbor's small baby as she clutched a plush dragonfly toy- Agitha was her name, if I remember correctly._

_The woman gave me a sad look._

"_You're mother had the baby ahead of schedule, little lady-bug... but the poor soul was unable to make it into this world alive... I'm sorry."_

_My sibling was a stillborn and I never knew what gender it was, or the name that it would of had._

_My mother was never the same after that._

_My mother sank into a depression and stopped tending to herself- her face became sunken and skull-like, her eyes were dull, and the hair that I had inherited from her had lost it's healthy shine. She began to lose an alarming amount of weight and began ignoring me, while she tried to drown her sorrows through the traditional method: the bottle. It was something that I wasn't allowed to touch, and she and father used to drink sparingly from it, but now it seemed to never part from her when she was inside our house._

_She began to neglect our daily needs- our food was running out, and though I was able to buy food on my own, I had no idea how to make a proper meal._

"_Mother." I asked one day, in an attempt to get her out of the house. My only mistake was that I noticed that she was in the midst of drinking from the bottle, and didn't wait a little longer. "Why don't we go outside and play? Or at least make a meal together? Father wouldn't want you to-"_

"_Well he can't can he?!" She suddenly roared at me as she turned from the bottle and I flinched. "The fool left us to find a way to protect you, when he could have given you a future at the castle! And now he's probably dead!"_

_She sighed as she turned back to her bottle. "I curse the ones who bestowed that mark upon your hand."_

_I then glanced at my bandaged covered hand and, for once, I felt ashamed of myself for having what I would then consider to be a deformity._

_A week later, she ordered me to come downstairs, to our dinning room, where she sat. A candle was lit and at the center of our table, the bottle was out, and a glass filled with a familiar substance from the bottle was by it's side, but it had been untouched. I waited as she looked at me: never before had she seem so defeated._

"_Do you remember Sir Rusl?" She asked as I cautiously sat on a chair next to her. "He and his wife are going to take care of you from now on."_

_I listened without saying a word: after the loss of my sibling, the house became haunted, with a tense air that made me feel as if I was suffocating. Worse yet, I felt as if I couldn't help my mother. No matter what solution I came up with, it never seemed like a good idea. I didn't want to give up on my mother, and yet I was all too eager to leave my empty home._

"_I'm not fit to be a mother anymore." She continued. "Your father made an arrangement with Rusl that, if something were to happen, he would take care of you. I love you- I really do- but I'm aware of the damage that we've done. I know that things will only get much worse for you, if I let you stay with me... they will be far better parents than I have ever been."_

_She glanced down at my hand- the one with the accursed mark. I wasn't wearing a bandage or anything else that could have covered it- the mark of the Triforce was exposed for all to see._

_Slowly, her eyes moved to the candle burning at the center of the table and wordlessly pulled it towards her._

"_You... you know that I would do anything for you, right, Zelda?" She seemed hypnotized as she moved the candle between us. She then dipped her finger in the glass filled with the substance before rubbing it all over the back of my hand._

_I watched in confusion at this procedure._

"_So... if this is the only way to protect you..." She then took my hand and flipped it over before she moved it to the candle._

_My gut instinct told me that something was wrong about this and I began to panic._

"_What are you doing?!" I yelled. "Mother stop it, you're scaring me!" I tried to move my hand away, but mother's grip then tightened and kept my hand still._

"_May the gods forgive me for my sins." Mother muttered and began lowering my struggling hand towards the flames._

"_STOP IT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and from the core of my very being- and the mark on my hand suddenly glowed._

_An invisible force suddenly knocked my mother back away from me and into the cabinet behind her, followed by a sickening cracking sound when her head hit the edge of the cabinet._

_I watched in horror as my mother slumped to the floor as the china from the cabinet fell all around her... lifeless, with her head loosely rolled to one side._

_I nervously glanced to my hand and watched as the glow of the mark faded away until nothing remained._

_What did I just do? Oh what in Din's name had I _done_?!_

_I ran from that room as fast as I could and hid in my bedroom. I stayed there, with the knowledge that my mother's corse was still in the dinning room, right underneath me, and that I was responsible for it. An hour later, Rusl came to get me, and when he did, I was never asked as to what had happened, when he saw my mother's corpse. I didn't know how I could explain it to him, and he never judged me._

"_When you feel ready to speak, let me know- I won't pressure you." He told me._

_All I took was my clothes, my favorite blanket, precious dolls, a few books of old hylian fairy tales and legends, and a few treasures that I had collected. I never took anything too important, like jewelry, money, or the picture of me with my parents._

_And the very next day, I left the castle town and would not return for a very long time. And I never went to my mother's funeral- I wanted to move on, after what she almost did to me... but I was also afraid. I couldn't explain it, but I felt afraid._

-present-

"Even in death, Rutela was a far better mother to Ralis than my own mother had ever been to me." I concluded.

I glanced to the water. "Ralis is still recovering. I won't be able to speak to him right now... so let's go find the next Fused Shadow."

I would welcome whatever horrors lay in the Lakebed temple, than what was locked in my mind.

-Lakebed Temple-

Garbed in the Zora armor, I was able to swim an breathe under the water as I entered the temple under the lake.

It was an ancient temple that boasted an impressive technology that seemed rather advanced for it's time. Some said that such technology was frustrating to master, and that surely the Zoras were insane to have built such a place.

And yet, there was something eerie about the place. Except for the monsters, it felt abandoned, and there was a chill about the whole place. I couldn't help but feel cold whenever I was out of the water and... I just felt so alone.

...Except...

...Ugh...

I had to face... _that._

The ugliest frog I ever had the misfortune to encounter: a large, horribly obese, foul deku toad, in a nasty, slimy cavern.

"Ugh," Zant was grossed out about it too. "The mere sight of that thing is making me want to vomit, if you pardon my words."

"I'm in the same boat as you." I scrunched my nose up at it. Everything about the creature was foul, from it's appearance to the way it scooted along the floor (which seemed incredibly wrong, for some reason.)

Eventually, I figured out who to defeat it... but... after it hurled up a black mass, the deku toad exploded- spraying all it's guts everywhere. I was close enough that it's remains splattered all on me.

I didn't move an inch.

"...That was the most disgusting thing I've ever done!" I finally flicked my hands and brushed the guts off of me. "I don't know how such a nasty thing got in here, but now I'm covered in it's flesh and guts!"

"Why should you complain?" Zant asked- who, being in my shadow, was spared from the blast radius. "There are worse things to be covered in than the remains of the dead."

I felt like vomiting as the smell began to get to my nose. "Did any of the past heroes have to deal with this sort of thing?" I wondered.

-Ocarina of Time-

Zelda let out a terrific cry as she realized that the remains of Baranade had been splattered upon her.

"It's zit juice is on me!" She squealed, referring to the boils it had produced before it exploded.

"Yeah..." Her fairy companion backed away from her. "It smells pretty gross."

"You're no help Ivan!" Zelda snapped. "And you!" She pointed at Ruto, who appeared in a ring of light. "This is all your fault!"

-Majora's Mask-

"AGAIN?!" Zelda squealed as the remains of Twinmold rained down around her- some even flying onto her. "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!"

"This freaks you out more than anything else we've encountered?" Tael asked.

"YES!" She wailed.

"Even that freaky statue that looks like you?"

Zelda turned to a statue that resembled her, but it wore a creepy grin on it's face. Then a creepy voice echoed out:

"Beth Drowned!"

Zelda let out a frustrated cry and sliced it in half.

-Minish Cap-

"EEEWWW!" a green goo covered Zelda used her unusual purple cap to wipe off the residue from a large chu-chu she had just slain, that had also exploded. "It's all over me! GROSS!"

"DON'T USE ME TO WIPE IT OFF YOU, FOOLISH GIRL!" A voice snapped at her.

"I can't help it Vaati! I don't want to be covered in it!"

"WELL NOW WERE BOTH COVERED IN IT!"

-Skyward Sword-

After the chunks of tentalus fell on Zelda, she froze.

She pulled her sword up and looked at it- it too, was covered in tentalus's blood and remains.

"...I'm covered in it's corpse." She finally spoke.

"We both are." Was the given response that only she could hear.

"...I'm going into the water, and I'm going to wash off."

"Even if the water is likely filled with it's remains?"

"Would you do the same?"

"...No."

"Well, tough cookie!"

-LOL-

For my woes, I was given a clawshot- which came from the chest that was hidden under the black sludge of the mass. It was useful as it took me out of that chamber- which I swore never to set foot in, _ever_ again.

My journey through the temple finally lead me to a chamber where there was only a large hole, where there was a body of water.

I knew what was coming- I had a feeling- and yet I felt rather afraid of jumping in.

I reminded myself of Colin- how I would tell him about this story- and jumped in.

The cylindrical shaped room was enormous and filled water. It was very dim, and I grew nervous.

"The depths of the water are quite a mystery- what sort of enigmas hide within?" Zant wondered.

When I reached the bottom, I was met with a monster that bore a horrifying mouth, and a strange ocular like organ that freely moved inside it's tendrils. I figured that the organ was it's weak point and I used my clawshot and sword to capture it, before I could be taken by the tentacles and be made into the beast's meal.

Round two saw the beast emerge from the earth- revealing a long, snake like body- and it swam around in the waters. To be swimming in the waters with such a monster was uncomfortable, but with the aid of my clawshot and sword, I eventually fell the beast.

And the best part was that the creature finished the job for me- in a blind fury, it swam into the walls and created a large crack that drained all of the water out.

When the water was completely gone, the beast then turned into a dark mass which then shrank into the third fused shadow- this one resembling a pair of horns, for some reason- which found it's way into my hands.

"Well done."

I looked up from the Shadow as Zant's shadowy form eagerly held a hand out. "One left to go-"

"Wait." I stepped back from him. "What are you planning to do, once you have all of them?" I asked.

"That's none of your business." Zant coldly snapped.

"It is if you have been making me collect them for you." I replied. "Though I appreciated your aid, I think that you had a reason for it. So tell me, Zant: are you going to overthrow Midna, or are you planning to take over Hyrule?"

"You really don't trust me, do you?" Zant began to tilt to the side.

"You are spontaneous and unpredictable!" I finally spat. "One moment, you are level headed, and speaking poetically, the next, you enjoy the slaughter of monsters, as if it was fun to you! Lanaryu told me about how dangerous the Fused Shadows were, and how they can corrupt a person, so why else would I entrust them to such a person?! Of course I doubt you!"

Zant was quiet. But then his voice began to creep up in pitch as he straightened back up.

"And are you going to be a hero and kill me, before I become the villain? Or are you too afraid to be one? I have seen the wolf, and I've seen the woman, but I can see the scared little girl-pup hiding within both."

"Poor Zelda." He mockingly began. "Poor, pitiful Zelda- unable to get over her painful past. You always seemed to carry a dark shadow wherever we went, ensnaring you at rare intervals, and it could threaten to kill you if you aren't careful. I know what sort of being I am, and I know what makes me go insane, but what is it that's in the past that holds you back or makes you snap? What is it about the past that keeps you from the future? What would it take to make you step into the light? What are you really afraid, little wolf-pup?"

There was a hollow silence.

"Get... me... out of here." I began. I had had enough of him. The cyptic talk, the violent outbursts- I was sick of it all.

"Why not answer my question?" Zant ignored me. "Or are you too cowardly to-"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!" I then yelled. "TAKE YOUR TREASURES AND LEAVE ME OUT OF YOUR PLAN, YOU ABOMINATION!"

I heard the familiar sound of being teleported away. I felt my clothes change back into my regular clothes, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself at Lanaryu's spring.

I felt a numbness as I stared at the water- I was beginning to grow tired of it.

"Don't you ever come back." I spoke out loud. "Please leave me in peace."

There was no response. For a brief moment, I was convinced that Zant had left me, which, in truth, I wanted from the bottom of my heart.

Slowly I turned around- and almost ran into someone.

I backed away to reveal a woman- a woman around my age, if not older, and yet taller than me. She was an exotic bluish-green skinned beauty, with red hair, stunning facial features, and dressed in garbs that showed off a perfect figure: more than any modest woman would dare to display. But what really drew my attention were her eyes- yellow, with scarlet pupils.

I stared dumbfounded at her.

"Well, say something!" The woman almost demanded, before she finally gave me an amused grin. "Or am I so beautiful that you have no words left?"

I took out my sword and I heard the splashing off water behind me- Lanaryu was coming to my aid.

The woman sighed as she raised her hand up. "Stay out of this, spirit."

A strong force blew out and not only knocked me to the ground, but it sent the spirit crashing back into the water with a cry and left behind a sphere of light.

"I've been wondering who was dispelling the beautiful twilight from this land." the woman stared at me as she held her hand out. "To think that it was a beast was amusing, but..." She smirked. "To think of what sort of beauty was hiding in the beast- how interesting!"

She then sent the light into the water and I felt myself change into the wolf as twilight filled the room.

"Wait!" I spoke. "What are y-oooo!" My voice disappeared into the wolf's howl, and I lost my true form as Zant was forced to reappear by my side. The force had also knocked him into a sitting position.

The woman's attention was drawn to my companion. "Zant," She coldly began. "I was wondering where you had run off too."

"Midna," He began to shiver as Midna examined her hand.

"I was wondering how the little hero was able to survive the twilight and collect the Fused Shadows- to think that you were helping her is actually a bit of a shocker." She turned back to him. "Be a good boy and share your new toys, won't you?"

With a brief cry, Zant was suddenly pulled up into the air and his arms were outstretched and his helmet was removed, to reveal the face of one who had been caught with his hand in the jar of sweets.

"I wouldn't dare trust someone like you with our ancestor's power." Midna waved a finger in a circle and the Fused Shadows came out of Zant. "Especially considering the position I'm in."

The Fused Shadows then came to her, and vanished. Something then appeared in their place- something that looked like the horned part of the Fused Shadow, but it looked more like some sort of headgear.

"I've already had this Fused Shadow since birth." Midna smiled at it as she held a hand under it. "We were able to take at least _one_ part of it into our world."

She then made it disappear and then glared at Zant. "So, what were you hoping to accomplish with them? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to overthrow me."

Zant then let out a nervous laugh.

"It seems that you've been on the edge, ever since you took the throne." He sounded terrified, despite his laughter. "What I would like to know is... why has it led to you killing off the Zora queen and freezing her people?"

I raised my head up in shock as Midna's face hardened.

"I did what I had to do, Zant." She harshly replied.

"For what reason?!" He suddenly cried out. "I always knew that you could be capable of such acts, but I'd never imagine the _extent_ you went to accomplish whatever it is you had in mind! You committed murder and placed a fate worse than death upon the Zoras by freezing them!"

"Believe me, I had no desire for it to come to that." Midna snarled.

Suddenly, Zant was flown around her, away from me. I then heard a strange humming noise.

"And it gives me little satisfaction in what I must do next."

She then turned to face me and something red rushed at me and collided into my forehead.

I felt a searing pain, and my head began to throb. I let out a horrible howling noise as something entered my skull.

Zant let out a frantic cry, which continued even after I collapsed and remained barely aware of my surroundings. All the while, my head was throbbing, and I could barely move an inch.

"Oh shut up!"

Midna walked to Zant's side and slapped him so hard that he finally stopped his shrieking.

"You've never changed!" She snapped. "No matter how much you hide it, you still behave like a wild animal! Are you _that _attached to her?!"

I could hear a grin in her voice. "Is she prettier than me Zant? Is the little beast more fitting for your standards? The one descended by those who have banished us?"

Zant let out a growling noise. "She... is... my ally. Nothing more and nothing less."

Midna let out a laugh before she grew serious. "Well then... maybe if you comply... if you help me blend their world with ours... maybe I'll let you keep your pretty pet. And maybe..."

Midna placed a hand on Zant's shoulder. "You are special to me Zant- you know that." Her voice softened. "I can find it in me to forgive you for all of this. If you can't help me, then at least go back to our realm, before things get out of hand."

"...What has happened to you?" Zant quietly wondered. "What has happened to Midna? What could I say, to make the princess happy? And yet, the princess clearly isn't content with her domain... the princess was secretly a tyrant who kills without reason... so why must I say yes?"

"Sorry." He looked up at her with a resolved look. "But I'm afraid that, considering what kind of beast I see before me, I'd rather have whatever you had in mind."

Midna snarled. "Fine- I see how it is. Then I shall pass on your sentence, Zant with little regret."

"For treason against the Twilight Realm and it's monarch, I banish you to a slow, agonizing death: you will be trapped in the world of light in your corporal form, where it will slowly kill you until nothing remains."

The twilight vanished, and Lanaryu rose up out of the water.

My vision began to grow bleary as I watched Zant struggle and let out frantic animal cries. Lanaryu reared back... then charged at Zant.

The last thing I heard, was a horrible shrieking sound that was painful to my ears.

-?-

Night had fallen across Hyrule- and that very night just happened to be a full moon.

A child like creature peered up at the moon though both his thumbs and index fingers, like they were binoculars.

It watched as a face suddenly formed on the moon- a scowling face with angry yellow red eyes.

"An apocalypse is coming." It spoke, just as the face then changed to a young woman- a warrior, by the looks of her, dressed in familiar garbs.

"The hero is going to come-" It began, but then the girl let out a scream and shifted into a white and reddish purple wolf.

"But she's changed into a wolf?!" The hands moved away from it's eyes and it let out a childish giggle.

"I'm going to have a new playmate!" It clapped it's hands together. "It's about time!" It then looked behind. "She's coming!" It excitedly spoke. "The hero is coming! She's going to need you, so you'll have to get ready to wake up, sleepy-head!"

Behind the creature, a sword resting in it's pedestal was shining in the beauty of the moonlight.

* * *

><p>I apologize if that specific moment I warned you about made you uncomfortable. When I was thinking of Zelda's backstory, it seemed so oddly fitting that such a thing would have happened to her and I felt a little unsettled by it when I wrote it out. Zelda's mother <em>was<em> only trying to use a precaution for Zelda's future, BUT it is unacceptable behavior for a parent to even do something like that and I personally despise ANY form of child abuse.

The wagon scene: I took out the gates. It seemed unrealistic.

Exploding boss joke: I was considering saving this joke for a possible Minish Cap edition, but I thought... this place might be more appropriate.

And apparently, in this universe, there is a female version of Ben Drowned. I guess Ben's got a potential girlfriend now.

"Or am I so beautiful...": I'm sorry, but I just _couldn't_ resist having Midna tell her famous line to Zelda. It seems like a good way to build up potential banter for the future.

Other than that... After the next chapter, I may take a brief break, since classes will be starting up soon for me. I'm considering writing a short fic, exploring Ganondorf and Nabrooru switching roles in Ocarina of TIme somewhere, in case you guys want me to go THAT far for this fan fic. (Even though the idea of Ganondorf possessing Link seems HIGHLY interesting.)

Also, Zant's backstory will be explored, after the next chapter.

Oh boy... next chapter. Do you think you guys know what's coming for Zelda? Maybe, and maybe not. :D


	7. The sacrifice and the sword

Tjfanfics99:... Zant's too fa...uh... heavy for wolf Zelda to carry to be able to carry... actually I bet that lament would be really creepy.

Baron Ricardo: Hey! It's nice to hear from you again! :) And thanks!

Ayako Zetra: RIGHT! And yes- exploding bosses! Some of them make quite a boom, if you ask me. :D

Random words: I want to play Pokemon again, and I'd like to acquire Darkrai (whose just the kind of character that appeals to me, especially after seeing his movie) but he's an event only character... which sucks. :( I don't have a 3DS at the moment... I haven't even played pokemon since the first version of Gold and Silver... that almost makes me an old lady in comparison... wow...

Though I would love to acquire a Darkrai for myself...

...Ok, sorry, back on track.

...

...

...And here it is.

I think, ever since I posted this fan fic, some of you knew what was coming, when I would reach a certain chapter. I have been waiting to reach this chapter for a _very_ long time, and for a good reason. I HAD said that this fan fic is in the same universe as Skyward Swaps, and follows a similar outline. If you haven't read Skyward Swaps, but played Skyward Sword, then you know EXACTLY what you might see... otherwise, either go play Skyward Sword, or go ahead and read Skyward Swaps, if you want a different reading experience.

For those who have read Skyward Swaps in the past, I then dedicate this chapter to those particular readers.

...And for those who were upset that Skull Kid was not put into Hyrule Warriors. I'm actually super POed that they used Tingle instead... ugh. :(

One more thing... I'm skipping the statue puzzle... WITH GOOD REASON!

Also, I had a song in mind for something important: when you see the break that says - SUNDOWN- type in Nightwish's Imaginarium The Score and find the music titled Sundown. (If it sounds familiar, it's a different version of Turn loose the mermaids)

Chapter 7: the sacrifice and the sword

* * *

><p>-normal pov-<p>

Link stared out the window- just awhile ago, it was a full moon, and now rain came pouring down from the heavens. It looked as if a storm would be coming and it gave him a sense of unease that he could not explain.

He had ordered everyone out of the castle earlier that day: he had feared what Midna meant when she spoke of an 'old acquaintance of the Royal Family.' Even though the order confused them, he made it point clear that it was an order that had to be obeyed, and they all left within the hour. He _hoped_ that they all managed to leave.

To make matters worse, he had been noticing a change in his reflection, ever since Midna visited him, be it in the mirror or the window: at first, his eyes would be blue, but then they would turn into an animal like yellow. He had seen those eyes once before, in a vision- it was a bad sign.

And now that his reflection's eyes were always yellow, he knew... something evil was coming for him.

He heard a strange humming noise from behind and turned to see an orb of light from a Light Spirit, which filled his chambers with a pleasant brightness that was dearly desired.

"What in Farore's name-?" He wondered.

The orb faded away and revealed two forms that were laid to rest upon his floors. To his slight annoyance, he recognized the larger form as belonging to Zant, but then he let out a short gasp when he saw the familiar form of a certain wolf.

"By the Goddesses!" He rushed to the wolf, who seemed as if she was struggling to wake up, and knelt beside her.

"What happened?!" Link made to reach for her, but a raspy voice beat him to it by giving him only one word:

"M..Midna."

Link turned to Zant: the enigmatic man's face was exposed, and his skin had not only turned black, but gave off a strange dull glow. He looked as if he was close to death's door- something that the prince had seen in previous battles- and he wasn't going to last much longer.

Anger rose in Link's heart for what had happened to Zelda- what price she had to pay, for all that she had done- and though he wanted to blame the being before him, as well as the Twilight Princess, Link's common sense was kicking in. "What happened?" He sharply demanded.

-Zelda's POV-

I managed to awaken completely as I heard Zant speak to Link as best as he could through his pain.

"...She... took the Fused Shadows... cursed your... Hero... and exposed me to the... light."

He let out a noise of exhaustion and collapsed to the floor.

As much as I didn't care for Zant, I was genuinely surprised at how worried I suddenly felt for him. In fact... I actually _didn't _want him to die, for whatever reason. Was it because some insane part of me had grown attached to him?

"Don't you dare die on me!" The prince hissed. "I'm not done with you!"

"...I'm not... ready yet." Zant let out a sharp breath. "I still have much... to tell... but tend to... your... Hero first. You... need her to save... your world, don't you?"

He sighed. "I'm sorry... this is all... my fault."

The prince then turned to me. "Are you alright?" His expression softened as he showed more concern for me.

"_...My headache is about gone, but I'm otherwise ok." _My eyes shifted to the floor in regret. "_I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I should have come to you in person- maybe then this wouldn't have happened."_

"This isn't your fault." The prince quietly protested and was about to place his hand on me but then he hesitated. For a brief moment, I saw his eyes look at his hand, but I wasn't sure, and a thought seemed to cross his mind.

"What binds you to this curse is a different magic than what transformed you when you first passed the twilight. It is an evil power..." He drew his hand back as a troubled look crossed his face.

He then got up and walked over to his desk and took a book. "I may not be a scholar, and I am not as versed in magic as some, but our family has a useful library of knowledge, and access to a history that few scholars could only dream of uncovering." He then flipped a few pages before finding what he was looking for and traced a finger over the page.

"If I am correct about my theory, there's one solution- the only thing that can save you from this curse."

He walked towards me and lay the book down for me to see a very familiar illustration- one that all children that grow up on fairy tales know of. It was without a wielder, but it was still recognizable.

"_Is that-"_ I glanced up at him in amazement and sat right up.

"The Blade of Evil's Bane itself." He confirmed with a confident smile. "You have to head for the sacred grove that lies deep within the lands guarded by the spirit Faron." He instructed me. "There you will find the sword, which was wielded by the past heroes of old. The Master Sword is a sacred blade that evil can never touch and the evil that has touched you can be destroyed by that."

"_How do you know for sure?"_ I asked. _"Only a hero can have such a right, and I-"_

"You are not alone." The prince then held his hand up. "I've also been granted special powers by the goddesses- I have also been drawn into this conflict, whether I wanted it or not."

To my complete shock, the symbol of the Triforce glowed on the back of his hand.

"_How on earth..."_ I glanced at my paw to see that my mark was glowing in a prefect resonance to the other one.

"As much as I'd like to explain, I'm afraid that your friend is a more pressing concern." The prince then turned to Zant.

"How... sweet..." Zant panted with dripping sarcasm before he became serious. "But... if you wish to... stop the Twilight Princess... tell her about the... Mirror of Twilight."

The prince gave Zant a look of concern and surprise.

"...You... have to stop her... for the sake of my realm and yours... you should know why."

I watched as the prince turned from Zant and to the windows, where the rain kept pouring downward, as if it would never end. A darkness crossed his face, and I could sense there was some sort of turmoil turning through his mind. He then looked at the back of his hand- the one that also bore the mark- and then looked at Zant.

"Is your realm in that much danger?" The prince quietly asked.

"More... than you would think." Zant answered.

The prince then looked to me, with a look of guilt in his eyes.

"After this world was casted in twilight, my doubts of ever becoming a good ruler for my people worsened." He began. "I lost sight of the courage that I should of had, I worried for the welfare of the people, and let myself fall into despair. But you- Zelda- you selflessly restored the light back to this Kingdom. Someone like you must surely have been giving that light to those you have met along the way."

"_I only did what my heart told me to do."_ I modestly answered with a blush. "_To save those I cared about- that's what made me happy. And, to be honest, I wanted to make _you_ happy again."_

The prince gave me a smile- a warm, lovely smile, and yet there was an odd bittersweet quality about it.

"You restored my hope... please give that hope and your courage to my people, even when I can not."

I could have smiled, if I was able to, but as Link then placed a hand on my shoulder, I realized something in those words sounded suspicious. "_What do you mean?_" I asked.

He shut his eyes and his smile tightened. "I... I wish that I could have seen your true form." He confessed.

He then moved away from me, sat by Zant's side, and repeated what he did with me and placed a hand on his shoulder. I watched as the Prince suddenly began to glow, and trails of glittering light seeped out of him, and into Zant.

Zant began to regain his natural coloring, and began to look as if he was regaining his strength, but he was staring at the prince in shock.

"What are you doing, you foolish idiot?!" He suddenly snapped at him. "Stop it!"

I couldn't understand what was going on and I gave Zant a questionable look. "Your fool of a prince is giving up his life force!" Zant quickly informed me.

"_What?!"_ I turned to the prince in shock and rushed to his side. "_Why are you doing this?!" _I frantically began pawing at his leg and I tugged at his cloak with my teeth. _"Your Majest- Link, stop!"_ I frantically cried out.

Link gave me one final smile as he began to look fatigued. "I have to do whatever it takes to save my kingdom... I can't become a pawn in all of this... and prevent war... Zelda... protect Hyrule... for my sake."

And then... he faded away, like a shadow or a ghost, and disappeared from this world.

And my heart broke.

"_No- no_!" I howled as tears began to form in my eyes. Why did Link have to give up his life? Why?!

I bowed my head and though I wanted to cry out, my wolf form could only manage to let out sorrowful howling and whimpering. I hadn't known the prince that long- and I did have a crush like fancy for him- so... why did it feel like my heart was going to break, at any moment?

This wasn't right. The people needed their prince more than they ever had before... and he selflessly gave his life for another.

I could hear Zant get up and I could sense that he was standing next to me.

"...I... I didn't want this, Lady W-" He hesitated in his quiet appology. "I had no right to have the life force of your future King."

"I suppose... I suppose I shouldn't squander it then." He truly sounded regretful. "I should have been more careful, but perhaps there's a way I can make it up to your kingdom."

I glanced back to where I had last seen Link.

Because of my intended fate, another had been condemned, and not only was it the prince, but he had given his entire life away in whatever battle it was that I was fighting in. And I could not up but feel responsible for it...

Colin... Ilia... Link...

"_I will fight in your memory_, _Link._" I promised as I looked up as Zant then bowed and politely knelt down towards where the prince had been.

"Long live the King of Hyrule." He quietly declared.

Moments later, the transported us out of the prince's chambers.

-outside, sometime later-

Dawn had fallen across Hyrule, and all of Castle Town was waking up, or getting ready for the day ahead.

But then a strange phenomena occurred- one that would shake what was left of Hyrule's uneasy hope.

The castle itself became encased in a yellow, diamond shaped barrier that was riddled with alien markings. It was so large, that everyone for miles around would be able to notice it.

Everyone in the town who saw this occurrence were surprised, and mystified. It wasn't long until people began to panic in the streets.

"W-what's going on?" A lady gasped.

"The castle is in trouble!" A Goron and his son stared from their post at an outlook, but either one knew what to do.

"Is the prince ok?!" A group of girls panicked.

"Is Hyrule even safe anymore?!" A musician and his friends nervously glanced at each other.

In front of the square fountain- petting her cat Louise, who was resting in her arms- was Telma. She was going out to buy a few items for her tavern when she saw the event, and although she was as troubled as the others, she still felt a bit of hope and was seeing it in the form of a young woman.

"Where are you when we need you, Zelda?" Telma wondered as she stroked Louise's fur.

-Faron Woods-

As soon as I made it to Faron Woods, I rushed my way towards the forest temple.

"I trust you know where to go." Zant spoke from my shadow.

I had a feeling that I knew: there was a myth in Ordon that there was a grove that housed a sacred treasure near the forest temple. I could either ask Faron, or one of the animals in the woods for help, and I was sure that I could start with Ook and his friends.

As soon as I made it to the pathway that lead to the temple, the girl monkey from earlier suddenly leapt out from somewhere and was then surrounded by marionette like beings that came out from the sky.

The monkey panicked and shivered as she remained frozen in place while the marionettes with leaves on their backs then noticed me and turned in my direction.

"I rather like their design." Zant complimented the sheer, unsettling creepiness in their appearance and how they moved, as if by invisible hands from up above. However, I was not in the mood, and attacked them all until they were turned into piles of splinters and firewood.

"_D-did you save me?!_" The monkey regained her courage when she saw me coming to join her. "_Th-thank you!_"

"_I'm glad to see that your ok."_ I kindly replied. _"Where on earth did those come from?" _

"_Well, Madame Wolf, there's a really pretty wooded area on the other side of this cliff! I climbed over there, but when I tried to get deeper into the woods, those guys attacked me! I wonder what are in those woods..." _She turned an inquisitive head towards the direction she previously came from.

"_That's what I would like to know."_ I began heading in that direction.

"_But they'll attack you too!"_ The monkey protested.

I turned my head and smirked. _"Then I'll just have to knock them down!"_

"_You know..." _The monkey became thoughtful._ "Your scent reminds me of a beautiful princess who helped me and my friends not so long ago. She was just as brave as you are, Madame Wolf."_

"_You can call me Zelda." _I smiled in appreciation- it was nice to know that she hadn't forgotten about me. "_And what is your name?"_

"_Hibi- my name is Hibi!"_

"_When I return, Hibi, I'll tell you about what I found in those woods. I don't know when I'll come back, but I'll tell you when I see you again." _I then raced off. _"Bye, Hibi!"_

"_Bye Zelda!" _Hibi called out._ "Be careful!"_

After an oddly placed obstacle course and an oddly placed howling stone, I found myself in an area of the woods I had never been to before... There was a feeling of uneasiness and fear that was eating away at me, but I forced myself to press on.

-the sacred grove-

I found myself in a strange, almost otherworldly grove, filled with a misty fog, trees, and what seemed to be tunnels that lead to other parts of the area.

"What an interesting place." Zant came out of my shadow. "I wonder what this Master Sword will look like, when we see it- they _did_ make an effort to place it in such a hard to reach location, after all."

For some odd reason, there was a howling stone that was playing an oddly familiar melody- it reminded me of a lullaby.

I howled alongside it, curious to see what would happen.

I waited... and then we heard the sound of pipes playing a different melody.

As the melody came closer, I noted how it sounded mysterious, playful and yet, like the lullaby I had the strangest sense that I heard it before, like a long forgotten memory.

The music stopped and then a little child like creature leapt from one of the trees. It looked like one of those marionettes, and it's clothes had leaves sewn into them in various places- even on it's red hat. In one hand, it held a set of pipes, and in the other, a lantern that glowed with a blue light. It looked at us with unnatural eyes and a wide, almost permanent grin across it's blue mask like face.

"You finally came!" The voice of a child- a boy- came from him as he suddenly scuttled towards us. "A new playmate for Skull Kid!" It cheered.

"Playmate?" Zant tilted his mask covered head at it- him?

"The hero is finally here!" Skull Kid glanced it's head this way and that. "I know you're a wolf at the moment, but _he's_ going to fix that for you!"

_He?_ I wondered.

"He's been waiting for you for a very long time, hero!" Skull Kid nodded his head. "I saw you coming in the form of the wolf on the face of the moon- the moon that wears a face is bad luck, you see." He said as if it were common knowledge. "But I saw the hero in the moon, which is a good thing!"

"What on earth are you?" Zant wondered as his the pitch of his voice took on a curious, but almost amused tone. "Are you a puppet brought to life? Or some sort of forest spirit!"

"I'm not a puppet!" Skull Kid snapped at Zant. "I hate that word! I _hate_ it!"

"We have little time for playtime." Zant tried to continue, and I could sense that he was trying to stay calm through his reserved demeanor, because I could see him trembling somewhat.

"Like you're one to talk, lizard face!" Skull Kid snapped.

Zant flinched.

I almost felt sorry for Skull Kid, and yet I dreaded what was about to happen.

And then, like an angry child, he began to ferociously hope up and down.

"Lizard face?!" He began to seethe as (to my horror) he took out his scimitars. "I'll show you whose a lizard Face, you rotten bark of wood!"

"Cant catch me, ya overgrown serpent!" Skull Kid then... spanked his rear with his musical instrument and dashed off.

"Get back here!" Zant roared and chased after him.

"_Zant!_" I howled as we chased the Skull Kid through the grove and the first of the tunnels.

And then the marionettes began to chase _me_. Great- just great!

After some time, when I had reached a pool of water, I heard Skull Kid cry out. "Miss Wolf!"

I skidded to a stop and turned to face Skull Kid, who was right behind me. I let out a yelp and backed away- he literally appeared from out of nowhere!

"I'm supposed to take you to that which you seek!" He giggled. "I know you need the blade to shear off your wolf's hide! But it's _me_ that you should seek first!"

I gave him a pleading look- I really wanted to become a human again, and I'd be a fish frying in Death Mountain before I'd be playing hide and seek with this-

"Please play with me?" The Skull Kid almost whined. "It's been so _long_ since I had a good playmate!"

I let out the closest thing to a sigh as possible and nodded. I guess I did feel a little sorry for him.

Taking that as a sign, Skull Kid gleefully ran down a pathway, and left behind more marionettes that I was forced to deal with.

"_Come chase me, come chase me!" _Skull Kid sang to the tune of that odd melody as I dispatched his 'toys'._ Chase until your feet, fall off, crazily! Oh, chase me! Come chase me, come chase me, chase the Skull Kid, he'll lead you to your destiny!"_

I chased Skull Kid down the pathway- all the while I could hear Zant's frustrated, animalistic cries, combined with the singing of the Skull Kid. When I could hear the music growing louder, I knew I was heading in the right direction.

"_The sword can wait, yes he can, yes he can!" _His voice wavered, without realizing that I was approaching him from behind_. "But before you find him, first find me!"_

I tackled Skull Kid to the ground. Instead of giving in, he then disappeared out of sight as soon as he got up. I glanced around in confusion, until I saw him rushing towards another tunnel.

"_Little hero running lost in the grove!" _He sang as he sent another wave of marionettes at me. _"Guess she'll- guess she'll- guess 'she'll- guess she'll- guess she'll- guess she'll- guess she'll- ne'r find the trove!"_

Seriously, what was with that song?

I growled and tackled the marionettes before I raced into the tunnel. Once I got to the other end, I felt something collide into me and, with a great "Omph!" knocked the both of us to the ground.

"I'm going to dismember that little brat!" Zant pounded his fists on the ground- with his blades still in his hands, no less!- as I tried to get out from under him. Needless to say, I felt the same way- just not _quite_ as much.

"Oh _Woooolf_!" I looked up to see Skull Kid waving at us. "Mr. Lizard Face!"

We both charged after the Skull Kid as soon as we got ourselves untangled. I could hear the imp panting as he lead us away- I hoped that he was starting to grow tired of this game.

We found ourselves at a ledge that lead down to a circular area with a ring of old stone rubble, with the Skull Kid on a pillar and playing his horns at the center. I didn't even hesitate to jump down to join my 'playmate.'

When he realized that I made it, he jolted in surprise. But then he began to tremble and proceeded to stomp and throw a tantrum.

"You're a meanie, hero- I hate meanies!" He growled. "You attacked me!"

I growled back at him.

He disappeared onto one part of the rubble and summoned more marionettes with his horn. By this point, I was getting fed up with him and instead of focusing on his minions, I made to attack the imp, but he vanished onto another area and summoned out more minions.

I took a moment to think... he really liked using those pipes ... and then I knew what to do.

I attacked the marionettes and waited for Skull Kid to summon out more- and that's when I made my move to strike.

I soared through the air, tackled the imp, and pinned him to the ground with my paws.

I growled and barred my fangs at the struggling imp, while Zant cheered on "Yes! Tear the little beast apart!"

"Don't you dare!" Skull Kid cried out. "Otherwise, you'll never get to meet the sacred sword! Do you want to stay trapped in the wolf's hide, hero?"

Realizing that he had a point, I got off of him.

"Thank you." The Skull Kid got up and brushed himself off as he sighed in relief. "The truth is, I have been watching over this sacred place for quite some time. It's the least I could do... especially for the one that came before you... I'm not entirely alone, as the fairies like to come and go, and I like to converse with _him_ from time to time, even if he can't respond back... But it can get so lonely sometimes, and I just wanted a friend."

My anger evaporated, and I suddenly felt a bit of pity for the imp. In fact, he reminded me of a popular story of a similar, lonely Skull Kid, from a long time ago... maybe that's what kept me from outright hurting him?

The Skull Kid happily laughed and leapt into the sky, where he disappeared into thin air.

"Hee, hee, hee! That was lot's of fun!" His voice echoed around me. "I wish I could play more, but I can't! _He's_ been waiting for you, and I can't keep you two apart for much longer!"

And, as if the grove had been under some sort of spell, the enchanted fogginess vanished and natural sunlight broke through. The grove lost a bit of it's ethereal beauty in the process, but a tunnel then appeared in one of the walls, and I had a feeling that the Skull Kid was keeping his word for good.

"What a strange child." Zant appeared beside me. "I don't like him, though I admit that his oddity is quite appealing to me."

"_Somehow, I could see you two becoming friends." _I spoke, even though I figured that he wouldn't hear me. And with that, we headed through the tunnel, and into the heart of the grove, where an impressive sight awaited us.

We found ourselves in the remains of what was once a mighty architecture of some sorts. Time had not been to kind to it, and while I could see walls, archways, stairs, and a pair of stone statures, it had crumbled away and allowed nature to take it's course. I estimated that this place could have been hundreds, if not thousands, of years old, and what bothered me was that there were so many known locations within the forest that could have once been this place, and yet I could not figure out which one it was.

I saw a doorway with the Skyloft bird insignia upon a block of stone, but there seemed to be no way through it. I knew the Master Sword just had to be beyond that doorway...

I saw the sign of the Triforce on the ground. Taking that as a sign, I approached it and howled out the lullaby from earlier.

To my relief, the stone slab disappeared, revealing a set of stairs.

"Well, this is it." Zant turned to me. "You first, Lady Wolf."

I went ahead and walked up the steps, and into a spacious mist covered area. I could see nothing but trees surrounding this particular spot, and sunlight was pouring down, onto one particular spot. I couldn't see anything through the fog, until I could make out a certain object that stood out, like a beacon, and I moved closer into the center...

And there it was: the blade of legends.

I quickly approached it until I was close enough to take a look at it's details, as I recalled all of the theories and legends behind it.

A black handle, with white diamonds criss-crossed around it. It's tip, and it's guard were a rich maroon red. The symbol of the Triforce was etched onto the dull, grayish metal of the blade. And in the middle of the guard- which was shaped like a pair of wings- was a yellow diamond, that was surrounded by two entwining metals of what appeared to be gold, but one had a green tint, while the other had a more rose colored hue.

This was the blade that carried down legends almost before Hyrule was even considered to be known as Hyrule. This was the blade cloaked in mysteries and theories, and boasted many names: The Blade of Evil's Bane, the Sword Forged by Hylia, the Sword Raised Skyward, The Key of Time... and some jokingly, yet almost seriously referred to it as the Hero's Bridegroom, or the Extension of the Hero's Soul.

But it only had one name that all recognized and needed to know...The Master Sword.

"What a curious blade." Zant came out of my shadow to examine it closely. "That is quite the exquisite craftsmanship. Such lovely colors and detail- whoever made this must have been an excellent blacksmith."

He then backed away from it and looked to me. "I suppose it's time to see whether or not the prince was correct about his theory."

I slowly approached the sword- would this truly work?

"_Please..." _I almost pleaded to it_. "I don't want to be stuck as a wolf."_

As if hearing my plea, a light slowly rose from the pedestal, and up the blade, which began to shine. When it reached the yellow diamond, it let out a pure white shimmering light.

A gust of wind came out of the sword, blew away the fog, almost knocked my companion over, and would have knocked me down, if I hadn't kept my ground.

I then felt... I felt something pleasant invading my body. I could feel it coursing through every inch of my being.

I could feel my body shift as I struggled to approach the sword. It didn't feel painful, but it made my body numb as I began to change- my hind legs became regular human legs, and my right paw- which was reaching for the handle of the sword- was turning into a human hand. All the while, that powerful gust was trying to drive me away from the Master Sword.

I finally changed enough to the point that I finally was able to run head on, and my hand grasped the handle of the blade of evil's bane.

And that's when everything went white for me.

-?-

All was white when I opened my eyes.

I was restored to my true form- I could feel it- but I couldn't see Zant, the grounds, or the Master sword itself.

The first thing I then realized was that I was falling head first. I don't know why or where I was falling, but I didn't feel like I was in any real danger.

The second thing was that, for some odd reason, I was in my Ordon clothing- and judging by the lack of weight from my back, I was weaponless.

"Zant?" I finally called out. "Where are you?"

No response.

"Hello?" I asked out loud. "WHERE AM I?!" I finally yelled.

I sighed as I glanced at myself again- I had to be having some sort of strange dream, or I was in some sort of other dimension, like when I trained with the shade.

And then, a smooth, playful, yet oddly comforting voice rang out and echoed around me.

"_The hero destined by time... carried down the line started by the hero of the sky."_

"Whose there?!" I demanded to the voice- I didn't feel any danger from it, but after all I had gone through, I still felt uneasy by it. "Who are you?!"

"_But like a trident, the line unraveled and split into three points... the blessed and accursed number." _The voice ignored me as it continued.

_One line, in which time's champion died all too prematurely... her successor sought to protect her homeland and honor the wishes of her dying father and the king's nephew and successor... and she renewed the broken soul of the companion most faithful to her._

_One line, in which time's champion sealed away the evil, but was separated from her destined one, out of selfless love... her successor, filled with guilt and seeking redemption, was given knowledge of her true heritage...and the accursed cycle ended by the one who finally felt at peace._

_One line, in which time's champion was bestowed her heart's truest desires and saved her kingdom in time... her successor-"_

I interrupted and demanded. "Who are you?"

"_The dreamer... or am I the dream?" _The voice wondered out loud. _"Are you the dream, or are you the dreamer?"_

"_I am the one who will see whether or not you are ready to accept your intended birthright." _The voice continued._ "Those who came before accepted it with purpose and intent, and you certainly have all the right qualities... and yet, this time, there is something that's out of line. Something that's not quite right."_

"Because I was turned into a wolf?" I asked.

"_This problem runs deeper than the hide of a wolf, child of Hyrule. For when one's hand touches the handle of the blade, their memories, both dark and light, can be brought forth- waiting to judge them._

I was able to get in an upright position during my descent, and landed on an invisible floor.

Then everything went black.

I turned around in alarm, just as a light began to form in front of me... and I was meet with an odd sight.

"_Sir Gustav?" A flustered, exhausted looking woman approached my father, who looked nervous. She gave him a beaming grin when he faced her._

"_Congratulations- it's a perfectly healthy girl!"_

_My father let out a sharp gasp and overwhelming joy filled his face as he rushed past the midwife and into the next room._

_In the room was my mother resting n a bed- she looked like a complete wreck, but she was also able to smile as she held a small, blanketed baby in her arms._

"_Here's your father." She showed the baby to my father. "He's been waiting to see you."_

_My father knelt beside mother and glanced at the baby. He looked as if he was going to cry._

"_I... I suppose it's Zelda then?" He laughed and mother cracked a grin._

"_She has your eyes." She gave the baby a gentle rock._

"_And she will have your beauty, my Ana." My father kissed the baby's forehead._

"I don't remember this." I spoke as I watched as a pain filled my heart- this was the happiness that I rarely saw when I was a child. "I was too little."

The memory then shifted.

"_You see, Zelda?" My father pointed to the wolves in the distance, from where we were safely away from them. "Wolves may seem to be like dangerous creatures, but there is a beauty about them, if only you look closer."_

"_Is it true that wolves like to be alone?" I asked._

"_No." My father denied. "So long as a wolf can be part of a pack- or at least form one- then it will never be alone."_

_I smiled. "Maybe I'm just like a wolf."_

_My father turned to me, but he looked disheartened when he saw my bandaged hand. "Let's hope so." He murmured._

"They loved me... but... everything went apart."

"_There's only one thing that could save her from her fate. If we can't undo what's been done, then I'll make sure she will have what she deserves, so that nothing will come to harm her."_

"_You can't!"_

"_I have to do this! Zelda needs to be safe- you and the baby need to be safe! You don't know what kind of trouble that mark will cause!"_

"And then my mother gave me up..."

_Again, I saw my mother try to burn the mark off my hand, and again, I watched as it glowed and sent out a force that killed her._

"But then... Rusl and Uli-"

"_May I ask you a question?" Rusl knelt beside me. "Why do you always wear a bandage?"_

_I gave my hand a grimace. "My hand bears the Triforce mark.. it's cursed. So I have to keep it covered, unless someone thinks I'm special and will kill me."_

_Rusl gave me an unreadable look. "Do you truly believe that?"_

_I nodded my head. "Father said he was going to find a way to protect me- but he never came back."_

_Rusl then placed a hand over mine._

"_You shouldn't have to hide what makes you special." Rusl spoke. "And it's ok to be scared- it's in our nature to be scared, because it keeps us alive. But it shouldn't isolate us from happiness. If you have to hide, you'll miss out on so much- in fact, if I had let my fears control me, I wouldn't have become a knight, or even dared to speak to Uli when we first met."_

_He then smiled at me. "And you know what? I think it wouldn't hurt to teach you how to fight."_

_I was surprised. "But father would never let me so much as touch his sword!"_

"_You need to be able to protect yourself somehow- everyone should know how to protect themselves or protect others that they care about."_

I smiled. "From then on, I made sure to train as much as possible, until I forgot why I started in the first place. I even began to consider them as the parents I was supposed to have, until Colin was born. I was worried that they would want to give me up for a long time, until Rusl took notice."

"_Just because Uli is having a child, it doesn't mean that we will ignore you." Rusl told me. "You are important to this family: this child will want an older sibling to look up to. Uli and I may not be your parents, and we aren't pressuring you to consider us to be them... but you are like a daughter to us. And we are proud to have you in our family."_

"_So long as a wolf can be a part of a pack- or at least form one- then it will never be alone." I unintentionally recalled out loud._

"_Or so long as they keep the pack in their hearts." Rusl added with a smile._

_And when I finally saw Uli on her bed, with a blanketed baby in her arms, she gave me a happy smile._

"_Say hello to your older sister, Colin." She let me see a cherub of a baby boy with lovely blue eyes._

_And I suddenly felt myself fall in love with the little boy- I loved him, and wanted nothing more then to protect him, and tell him all that I knew- of legends, of stories, and of dreams that took me up into the sky._

"And from then on, everything in the past felt like a bad dream." I felt tears run down from my eyes. "I was happy... I thought that it could last forever."

"_But life isn't always supposed to be happy." _The voice spoke. "_By neglecting your past, you neglected that you may one day have to do that which you were always meant to fulfill."_

"I don't want to remember that part of my past!" I grew angry at the voice and held my hand up. "My life was a nightmare because of this accursed mark! I never asked to be a hero!"

"_Sometimes, we can't control the direction of our life, as tragic as it is." _The voice became somewhat melancholic, as if it knew from experience._ "We can't foresee everything, and we have to make the choices that are necessary-"_

"I did!" I yelled out in frustration. "I saved Hyrule, and what did I get in exchange? What did I lose, because of being a hero?!"

"_So... I take it that you are afraid of something."_

"I'm not afraid!" I yelled.

"_But you are... which makes you a coward."_

I then felt a horrible pain in my hand.

I drew it back and saw that the hand with the mark was burning with a real fire. Not just the back, but all of it. And as if seeing it made something click, the pain worsened to the point that I let out a scream and clutched my wrist.

"_Fear cripples you." _The voice was now cold._ "Though you have Wisdom and Power, your Courage is constantly wavering, and never stays still. Without a balance, you lack the ability to perform as a true hero."_

"Stop it!" I screamed. "For Nayru's sake, stop it!"

"_Isn't that what you said to me, before you killed me?"_ My mother's disapproving voice suddenly rang out. "_I could have had my husband back, and a sibling for you, if he hadn't left to 'protect you', as he put it. He probably even ran off with some tart! Instead, I produced a still-born and, even though I tried to protect you the only way I could, you killed me!"_

"_I wouldn't of had to leave on your behalf."_ Father's cold voice spoke. _"I could have helped your mother when she was depressed, and she wouldn't of had to die._"

"No..." I whimpered.

"_I lost my son because of you."_ Uli spoke. _"Those hunters could have captured you too, but they gave you up and took my own son instead. I could lose the child that's yet to be borne from all of this stress, just like your mother!"_

"_We all lost our children because of you."_ I could hear a collective voice of the village adults.

"I didn't mean to-!" I protested.

"_I lost my memory because of you."_ Ilia cut in. _"You could have checked on Epona, but you were careless and I had to do it, and get captured. And now I can't remember my old life, my father, or anything else about myself, let alone you."_

"Please stop this!" I pleaded. "I didn't-

"_I had to give up my life to save my kingdom." _The displeased voice of the prince rang out. _"All because you had to exist."_

I let out a scream of frustration. "STOP!"

"_Aw, so sad."_ Midna's mocking voice rang out. _"The little wolf is nothing more than a whimpering coward."_

"Who are you to judge me?!" I cried out as the fire burned my hand. "First the spirits, then the Shade- even Zant- and now _you_?!"

"_So you try to blame me?"_ Zant was not amused. _"You're more pathetic than I thought- You're weak."_

"I'M NOT WEAK!"

"_Then what are you so afraid of?" _The now hateful voice was now booming and almost painfully loud._"Why do you refuse the call, hero?"_

"I'm not a hero!" I finally cried out and threw my hands out. "What good did my birthmark do for me? My father left us and possibly died trying to find the Master Sword! My mother blamed me for it and tried to burn the mark off my hand, and she died because of me! I killed my own mother!"

The sound of my own echoing voice in the darkness rang out.

-SUNDOWN-

"But that's not all..." I finally realized as the physical pain began to lessen.

"What if the bulbins were really after me? What if I was the reason why Ilia lost her memory and the children were kidnapped? How many people will sacrifice themselves to help me? What good have I done?!" I trembled. "I failed to save Hyrule... if Midna is still out there-!"

I fell to my knees as my strength began to fade and my face fell into my hands.

"What if I'm cursed?" I asked. "What if.. what if I was never meant to have... any real happiness?"

"So yes... I'm afraid that I am doomed to only give misery to those who come close to me. All I've done has only lead to darkness..."

There was a haunting silence.

I sobbed. "Maybe it's better that I stay stuck as a wolf. After all, what good have I done?"

All I could hear was the sound of my own sobbing... never had I felt so alone in all of my life.

"_Do you really think you haven't done anything that was good?" _The voice- no longer cold- finally spoke out._ "Do you remember the monkeys you saved? How you freed their leader and the Goron Patriarch from possession? The Zoras you saved? How you helped their prince and gave peace to his late mother? Do you know of the inspiration you have given to those who have known you?"_

"Wh-what?" I looked up... and I saw Colin smiling at me with brotherly love.

"_I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you...He wasn't talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave..."_

Colin suddenly turned into the thoughtful monkey.

"_Your scent reminds me of a beautiful princess who helped me and my friends not so long ago."_

Gor Coron.

"_Young warrior... You have a strong will... and sharp eyes."_

Renado.

"_In Hyrule, countless tales are told of the ancient hero.. and your deeds bring them all to mind."_

Telma.

"_This swordsman- or should I say swordswoman- of ours has great eyes, honey. They're proud and wild... like a feral beast. We need a beast right now, to keep the true ones at bay."_

Rutela.

"_Please, you must allow me to thank you for revitalizing both my people and the spring... I am deeply grateful to you for aiding my son in his time of need."_

And finally... Prince Link beamed a radiant smile at me.

"_You restored my hope... please give that hope and your courage to my people, even when I can not."_

As the prince faded away into the dark, the voice spoke out- but this time, there was a warmth and it held pride... and so much more...

"_You have always been destined for greatness. You have had much to endure, and yet, with the heart of the wolf that kept you strong, you pressed on. It would be a great shame and an outrage if you gave up now."_

"They... they would be upset at me." I admitted with a ghost of a smile. "Colin believes in me... Telma would be cross if I gave up... and the pr- Link had faith in me, and I don't want to disgrace his memory by not honoring his last wish."

"_They believe in you... And I believe, in you." _I didn't know why... but that voice sounded familiar... like from a long forgotten dream or memory that was comforting in the darkest of times. So many things seemed familiar, and yet this voice... I was struggling to figure out why, but I couldn't. And yet, it didn't bother me in the slightest.

"_So, Zelda- daughter of Sir Gustav and Lady Ana- daughter of Sir Rusl and Uli- come to me. Lend me your hand, and I shall lend my strength to you. I shall help you protect those who you cherish, and lead you to the happiness you always deserved... and back to the happiness you always had."_

I saw something in the distance- a small, faint light, shining in the distance.

There was no point in staying like this forever: it was time to face the light.

I got up and began to run.

I ran as fast as I could- I felt my feet stick to something that wanted to slow me down, but I kept running. I could feel something- like tiny hands- attach themselves onto my arms and legs, but I gritted my teeth and pressed on. I could feel the little hands holding me back in protest.

"_From out of the darkness and into the light- even if you must stay in between, you must carry both to survive. You have been shaped by the past, but it's the future that you will need to shape with your own hand."_

I forced my body to press on, until the hands snapped free and let go of me. I would have fallen face first, had I not stepped one foot out in time.

I could feel the ground rising up against my feet, and I saw the outline of some sort of formation rising up ahead of me.

I didn't even hesitate: I began to leap up in large bounds on the formation as it continued to rise, while the light ahead kept growing. I should have felt my stamina drain, and a pressure on my legs, and yet I felt as if I could fly through the clouds.

I saw the faint outline of something in the light. I couldn't make it out, but I could see an outstretched hand reaching out for me.

As soon as I got high enough, I leapt off the highest part of the formation and began to soar towards that hand. I then threw my hand towards the other one, which looked as white as the light itself, and the outline began to take on a more distinctive, masculine- almost human like, shape.

Our hands then were able to latch onto each others wrists. I held on to that wrist for dear life, while the other hand held a firmness that told me that it would never let me go, no matter what would happen.

Suddenly, a golden light came out of that hand, and I shut my eyes. I felt my clothes change back to the ones I was wearing in my journey, I could feel my shield returning, and I could feel an empty scabbard at my back.

The hand that I held onto changed it's shape inside my own, and my eyes finally opened.

Instead of a hand, I was holding onto the hilt of the Master Sword itself.

As I marveled at this change, I then felt a gentle pair of hands place themselves on my shoulders and I sensed someone kneeling behind me.

"I always believe in the one who wields me." The voice- which no longer seemed so omnipotent and more natural- seemed to whisper this in my ear. "So become my Mistress, dearest Zelda, for only one kind of soul may possess the right to wield the Master Sword... that beloved soul possess a strong determination and resilience to brave the hardest of trials and the deepest of sorrows. Always remember that."

And then... I felt myself soaring up with the light. But not before the voice lovingly echoed out one more thing for me to hear.

"_No matter the form of my wielder, I shall forever remain bound and faithful to her, and guide her to where she must go."_

-Present-

I opened my eyes and glanced back to the Master Sword, which I held with a clearly human hand.

With an ease that felt similar to the one that was now in my heart, I pulled the Master Sword up from it's pedestal and raised it skyward. The dull grayness of the blade now shinned in a lighter tone and almost seemed to give off a faint glow, as if it were alive. It gave me a confidence and a peace that I seemingly hadn't felt for quite long time.

"That sword chose you as it's mistress." I could hear Zant's impressed voice.

I smiled at the diamond in the Master Sword. "I promise." I swore- if I was going to be a hero, then I would have to first prove to my sword that I could act on what my heart would tell me. "I'm going to save Hyrule- I'm going to make this blade proud!"

* * *

><p>...Even if it's not much- I missed writing <em>him. <em>I almost recommended listening to Sarah Brightman's 'I'll be with you' but even though the parallels were close... they weren't THAT close enough... _again_ with my Pokemon craze!

Why there isn't a desperate hour scenario: Zant is not an imp and would be too heavy to carry.

The sacrifice: I know what I am doing! Trust me, if it looks like I'm not being completely accurate, then I'm running on an in-game theory with this one... which I will explain in due time.

Hibi: short for hibiscus... though I think the flower on her head was a different kind... I'm thinking of Jigglypuff... DARN YOU POKEMON!

Skull Kid's song: to the tune of Saria's song, no less!

Zant praising what he does not know: Oh Zant, you have no idea what part of the fandom you just pleased, or the irony of the compliment. :D

Like a trident, the line unraveled...: I don't even need to say what it's referencing, or who those successors are, do I?

The test: Ok, I'm going to get this out of the way: this is mainly why I skipped the statue puzzle.

OMG is that who I think it is?!: By now, you guys already know, or had figured it out.

I wanted to give Zelda some sort of backstory for this fan fic, and she doesn't have too much of a backstory in the game, and... neither does Link. So I had wanted to flesh them out and give them at least _something_.

But, of course, the Master Sword would refuse point blank to allow a doubting hero to wield him- he doesn't like a wielder who is prone to depression, and he knows that they need to have the right balance before they can be considered worthy. So, being the lovable sadist that he is, making her confront what she was afraid of was the only way to get her out of that darkness for good.

This very important reunion somewhat helped influence the backstory I needed to give to Zelda... well, that and an old Zelda fan film called 'The Sage of Darkness'

Anyway... Thanks for those who have been following this fan fic. I appreciate your reviews, comments, and insights, and I look forward to the second act of this story.


	8. sandy prisons

TheOneTimeForgot: I really appreciate that compliment about my writing, even if I don't feel as if it's the best writing I've ever done. (Actually, I enjoy writing my own works, and it would be great to have a book published one day.)

I CAN promise you that Link is getting a free pass, and he will not be forgotten that easily- especially in this chapter.

By my estimate, based on the placements of the stones, the answer to your guess will come around the City in the Sky based chapters.

HeroAlexa249:...sorry. :( Lexi was bothering me about the Imp thing too, and I told her, the only way that would happen was if something happened to me... seeing as she gets free range of my powers as the writer in that instance... well, yeah, I doubt that will happen.

Good thing there will be more Skull Kid in the future of this fanfic.

Gray: I'm sorry about what it did to you. And I'm happy to know that the part of the previous chapter in question has been well received.

YueHamachi: I'm glad you found this one. And I don't mind a long review- I want to know what you wanted to say. :) Please do tell, I'm like a kid on Christmas when I hear something like that! LET LOOSE! :D :D :D

I want to apologize advance if this chapter isn't good. It's one that I didn't have much planned, except for a few things... that and that I was pre-occupied with other stuff.

Other than that... Netflix making Zelda into a series? That's a gamble for certain... the only disappointment is that I doubt we will see an appearance by Lineback, Vaati, or Ghirahim, and I would love it if they got far enough to use them.

Chapter 8: Sandy Prisons

* * *

><p>As I lowered the Master Sword to my side, Zant approached me with a strange black and orange artifact that hovered over one of his sleeve covered hands.<p>

"What is that?" I asked.

"The physical embodiment of the spell that you were under." He answered. "It's quite fascinating- I've studied my tribe's magic and it's not even the same.I would like to learn about it, or where this magic came from."

"So if I touch it, I'll turn back into a wolf." I wondered as I gave it a cautious eye.

"But it could be of use to us." Zant grew thoughtful. "There are benefits to being a wolf that you could use. I could place it upon you, whenever you wished... although, I would much prefer to hide in the shadows. We don't want Midna to know that I survived, do we?"

"I... suppose." I was a bit hesitant about being under a spell again, but then I remembered something. "You told the prince about something called the Mirror of Twilight."

"It is a gateway between your realm, and mine." Zant confirmed. "And with that sword, perhaps there is a chance of bringing the princess to her senses."

"You also said your realm was in danger."

Zant bowed his head. "I don't even know how to explain it, at the moment." He reluctantly admitted. "There is still an air of mystery surrounding these events."

I glanced at my new sword- which already felt as if I had always had it- before I looked back to my companion.

"Look," I began. "I'm sorry that I called you an abomination back at the temple. The truth is, I was scared that my destiny would hurt others... but I know that I will do more good if I try to be positive and do what I can to help."

"I owe you an apology as well." Zant began. "There is much I need to tell you, but I'm afraid that most of it is not going to be of any use, if this keeps up."

I smiled. "Well... whenever that time comes, I'll listen, but for now, we need to find that Mirror... So... you do know where it is, right?"

There was an awkward silence.

"I didn't see where I was going when I went through it." Zant admitted. "I was trying to get out as fast as possible."

That didn't help us in the slightest. I began to think about where we could start looking and was reminded of Telma. Perhaps she knew someone who could help us.

-some time later-

WHen I returned to Hyrule Castle Town- or at least one of it's entrances- the first thing I noticed was the enormous diamond barrier surrounding the castle.

"What in Din's name-?!" I gasped. What happened to the castle? The prince was gone... unless a certain someone wanted it.

"That is so strange." I thought out loud as I looked down. That's when I noticed a girl with a parasol, in a bed of flowers.

"Excuse me." I asked the girl as I approached her. Upon turning around, I noticed that she was dressed in eccentric clothing-the sort that Beth would only dream about- with a bug motif, and she had a basket in her hand. What caught me off guard was that she seemed oddly familiar... where had I seen a child with eyes so purple before?

"Your name isn't Agitha, is it?" I asked. "Oh, and my name is Zelda." I added, to be polite.

The girl beamed "I am! I am Agitha- Princess to all of the insect kingdom." She then curtseyed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Zelda."

Despite that odd title, I was stunned because I realized why she looked familiar. "I knew you and your mother when you were a baby!"

Agitha was happy. "Mother did tell me about a playmate that I had at that age! She played in our castle one time!"

"Could you tell me about that barrier?" I asked as I pointed to it.

"Oh yes!" She frowned. "The castle was imprisoned by that diamond wall this morning. Nobody knows how or what to make of it."

"I see..."

"By the way... do you have any insects with you?" Agitha asked as she tilted her head in interest. "I have an overwhelming sense that you have many companions with you."

"I'm afraid not." I turned back to Agitha with a confused look. "I've been too-

"Do you mean me, Your Highness?"

I was surprised to see Zant standing right next to me- in front of another, no less!- as he summoned out a small glass like orb that contained a surprising number of bugs.

As Agitha's eyes shone with glee, Zant explained. "I've noticed these unusual insects, since I've never seen anything like them. However, I think they would be happier in your Kingdom."

"You mean it?!" Agitha clapped her hands together. "I will certainly take care of them, Sir Knight!"

I flinched and looked at Zant in panic (he was wearing his mask at the time, so it was easy to see the reason behind the mistake.) but he was surprisingly calm as he allowed Agitha to carefully scoop them up in her bottles.

"Your welcome, Your Highness." I could actually hear a pleasant smile in Zant's words! I thought that it was so strange, the way he acted around her, but I supposed it was because the both of them were rather eccentric.

I then noticed the golden wolf near the steps to the town. Figuring that Agitha might be safe with Zant, I approached it, and was then sent to the realm of the shade.

-?-

I greeted the shade with a smile. "Hello again."

"You seem to hold yourself with a pride befitting of a true warrior." He noticed. In response, I held out the Master Sword- the sight of it almost took him by surprise.

"So, you finally took up the Blade of Evil's Bane." He nodded with pride.

"I didn't acquire it so easily," I confessed. "I had to confront my deepest fears in order to have that right. I wish to use this sword to save all of Hyrule, and I think I know where to start."

"You certainly will make your predecessors proud." He calmly praised. "As well as those you care about- you are certainly going to be the hero that this kingdom needs. But enough of that!" He held his sword up. "It is time to teach you a new skill!"

And, for once, my lesson didn't end on a confusing note.

-Present-

"Does she always do that, Sir Knight?"

"This this the fourth time, Your Highness, but there's nothing to fear."

I got up with a sigh as Zant and Agitha looked on in interest.

"That aside, I need to go to Telma." I reminded Zant before I smiled at Agitha. "It was nice to see you again, Agi- uh, Your Highness." I quickly corrected myself.

The girl beamed and curtseyed. "Bye, Lady Zelda! I look forward to seeing you and your friend again!"

It was later obvious just how on edge everyone was about the barrier when I went through the town. Everything seemed a lot less noisy, many eyes kept glancing at the barrier in disbelief, and I could hear whispered concerns as to what was going on. Although I suspected Midna to be behind it, there was something about that barrier that felt off, as if it were the product of a much darker force.

It wasn't until I found myself inside the tavern that I was exposed to the same warmth and excitement that was present when I last came to town.

"Zelda!" Telma greeted me with relief shining on her face from behind the counter. "Am I glad to see you!"

"I'm here to sign up for your group." I gave her a warm smile. "I saw the castle, and I have a lead on a possible answer, but I can't be too sure just yet."

She laughed. "I was actually talking about you just now. Hey, everyone!" She looked to a table of three at the back. "Introduce yourselves! This lovely lady is the famous Zelda!"

The three turned to me in interest as I approached them.

"Uh, hi!" I awkwardly waved as the first member- a rather handsome man in glasses- spoke first.

"There is one more member, but he is currently investigating the desert, near Lake Hylia." He explained as he then held a hand out, which I accepted. "I'm Shad. I'm... well, I'm formidable at book reading, but I lack, shall we say, the physical skills that my companions have... but if history and legends of Hyrule are your cup of tea, I'm your fellow! If you're curious, just ask away!"

I gave him a smile. "As a matter of fact, I'm fond of those subjects. Perhaps we can talk more about those subjects another time."

Shad gave me a pleased smile as I turned to the next member- young woman who was partially dressed in armor, and whose expression was unreadable as she turned to me.

"...It's Ashei." She merely answered. "I grew up in the mountains with my father, who was a knight in his own right. He taught me the arts of war as though I was his own son.

Of course, lessons in common courtesy were not part of the regimen, so forgive me if I come off as rude, yeah?"

"It's ok." I held a hand up. "My father was a knight, as is my foster father- he taught me how to fight too."

"Good." She grunted. "It's nice to know that not every girl in this kingdom is helpless."

I then made my way to the third member, who wore a strange helmet... and seemed a little familiar. I think it was the beard on his exposed chin that made him seem like that.

We both stared at each other in a small standoff.

"...Rusl?" I asked.

He then burst out laughing and took his helmet off. "It's good to see you again, Zelda."

"Rusl!" I cheered and gave him a quick hug. "Am I surprised to see you!"

"I decided to join this group." He answered. "Uli is safe in Ordon at the moment."

"And the children are still safe in Kakariko Village." I replied. "I'm glad to see you are well."

"You look a lot different from the Zelda I used to know." He noted.

"I've changed quite a bit since I've left." I confessed. "I've gone through so much, that I don't know how to explain it, at the moment."

He smiled. "Well, I would like to hear the story sometime. As well as hear about how Colin is doing."

"He's been growing up a lot, recently." I smiled with pride. "Wait until you met _him_."

Needless to say, there was a lot of catching up to do between the two of us, regarding Colin and the others, and Telma filled me in on what was going on so far. Apparently, the night before the barrier was set up, the prince had ordered everyone out of the castle and, as far as those escapees knew, the prince hadn't left the castle.

"We tried to investigate, in that secret passage that Telma mentioned." Ashei told me. "You cant get through it."

"It's clearly magic," Shad added "unlike any I've researched. I wouldn't be surprised if it's dark magic that's keeping us from whatever is currently inside the castle, but that's just my hypothesis."

"He's correct." Zant whispered to me from the shadows. "But like the curse placed upon you, it doesn't appear to be the magic of my ancestors."

"The old coot thinks there could be a connection between what is going on and the desert." Ashei added.

"I'd like to meet him." I decided. Perhaps I could get the lead that I needed.

-Lake Hylia- the watch tower-

I returned to lake Hylia to find another howling stone, as well as a tower that I had never noticed before.

When I reached the top of the tower, I found a man who, despite this senior age, looked capable of being able of holding his own in a fight.

"Are you Auru of Telma's group?" I asked. When the man noticed me, he was incredibly shocked.

"Lady Ana?!" He spoke, before he took a second look at me and realized his mistake. "No... Zelda."

"You knew my mother?" I asked and he gave me a melancholic nod.

"I was a tutor to the prince, and I was on good terms with your parents. Although I am afraid that I am the one to blame for what happened to your father- I told the king and queen about you, after we met, and Sir Gustav refused to allow any further contact with your family after that."

I then recalled the man and the boy from the time I had that nightmarish vision, and suddenly, I realized something. It couldn't be possible... could it?

"There was a boy with you, that day. Was he the prince by any chance?"

Auru grimly smiled. "That was him. He told me that when you shook hands, he had a dark vision and that was exactly what I told his parents. We saw it as a warning for a future threat."

I recalled that vision all too well- those yellow eyes... that voice filled with greed and hate... I clenched my marked hand with the other as I then thought about the mark that the prince and I shared. I wanted to ask Auru if he knew anything about it, but I doubted that he would know the answer.

"While I am unable to help the prince at the moment, I was able to be a part of the group that Telma kindly allows to meet at the bar. She had spoken of your deeds- and you certainly take after your father, by the sound of them."

I glanced out to where the desert was. "Isn't that the Gerudo Desert?" I squinted my eyes to try to get a glance of something in the distance. "I think I see the Spirit Temple."

"So you call it by it's proper name?" Auru also took a look at it. "Unfortunately, after the last great war, our ancestors turned it into the Arbitor's Grounds- a condemned prison for the worst criminals this land has ever known." He let out a regretful sigh. "We drove the proud Gerudo out from their homelands... may the goddesses have had mercy on them and may they have guided them to a better land. Telma herself carries a drop of that same bloodline, and could even be considered as the last Gerudo of Hyrule."

"Wow." I was suddenly impressed. "That _is_ quite a heritage."

"But as I was saying, certain criminals who were sentenced to death were sent directly to the underworld by a cursed mirror that was kept in the prison." Auru continued. "But the prison is condemned and even the road leading to the desert is impassable... but I believe that the evil currently plaguing Hyrule is related to this wicked place. I have come to learn the truth."

"How so?" I was interested in this.

"Hyrule has many great enemies, Because of those dark times that concern the Arbitor's Grounds, I suspect that there is an old hatred that is plaguing Hyrule. One that certainly hasn't forgiven us, for what happened."

"We must go there." Zant's voice reminded me. "That may be where the mirror is located."

"I'll go and investigate." I told Auru. "I'll see if your theory is correct."

Auru was impressed by this. "You truly are your father's daughter. Not many would dream of visiting such a forsaken place."

He gave me a memo to give to a man named Fyer, who ran an attraction on the lake that also doubled as a cannon. He promised me that if I showed him that memo, all should go well...

...If he meant 'getting shot out of a cannon to get to the desert' was the definition of well... well, that was another story.

-Gerudo Desert-

I was given a safe landing, but I ended up with sand in my hair and in my mouth. I shook my hair out and spat out my 'snack' with great revulsion, like a dog, which was definitely saying something about me.

When I was entirely sand free, I took in my surroundings: the sand and dunes seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, and I could make out the legendary Arbitor's Grounds in the distance. To think that this was once the home of the Gerudos was almost unbelievable.

"This is where I need to tell you something important."

I turned to face Zant, who appeared next to me. "That story that Lanaryu told you about the Fused Shadows... do you know what happened to the magic wielders who tried to take the Sacred Realm? They were banished from this realm and into another by the goddesses. It was an antithesis of Hyrule, devoid of light, and overtime, it's denizens became shadows that could not mingle with the light. It became what is now known as the Twilight Realm- the world of the eternal sunset, and the shadow of Hyrule."

"And you are descended from that tribe." I had long suspected this.

Zant sounded pleased and yet not quite. "Correct. This is part of my history as a member of the Twili race. And it was peaceful... until the passing of the king."

I listened carefully.

"For whatever reason, the princess... Midna, as you know her... gained control of a power greater than what she was known for. It's a power that extends beyond even mine, and she began turning her people into the shadow beasts you have seen in our journey."

I let out a horrified gasp. "But then that means-"

"I do not know the fate of those we have faced. For all I know they could still be alive. Otherwise, we have saved them from a fate worse than death." He shook his head. "While I hope that my least favorite of the lot were affected, I know that there are those that I'm rather fond of who do not deserve such a fate."

I shuddered. "But you committed genocide if-"

"Which is why there is a tale in our tribe- though the goddesses, forbade the return to the world of light, they left a link between the two worlds, which was left in the care of those who protect Hyrule. That is the Mirror of Twilight. We may still prevent more shadow beasts, if you help me find it."

I nodded. "I will." I was not going to let more people suffer, and the sooner the better.

We did have to make one detour, when we found something familiar sticking out of a hill: A section of the bridge of Eldin.

"The sight of horribly misplaced architecture never ceases to amuse me." Zant laughed at the bridge sticking out of the ground and aimed towards the heavens.

After a quick trip, involving the return of the missing part and thus fixing the roadway, we decided to take a peak in the hole that it had blocked. To be honest, I was a little surprised at what I had discovered- or 'who' I discovered, was more like it.

Inside, was a cave, with a pool of water, and waiting there was a ethereal looking being with glossy wings that elegantly hung from their back as they knelt in the waters. When I approached the pool, the figure looked out from a long curtain of greenish blue hair, and I saw a slightly thin, yet clearly masculine face. There was no doubt about it: he was a fairy of high rank.

"Did you get rid of that troublesome debris?" he asked me in a deep, musical voice.

"I had help." I confessed as he raised out of the water.

"You have my gratitude." He gave me a warm smile. "I am the current Great Fairy of Hyrule."

He then continued on to talk, but I couldn't help but notice more details about this fairy.

He was a lithe figure, and his long hair hung loose until it was tied together at his chest (like, Midna's, as I recalled) and my eyes followed the hair down until it stopped somewhere between his legs...

...Uh...

..._Huh_.

I couldn't tell if he was wearing anything underneath... it didn't look like it.

"Maiden?"

"Yes?" I looked up- blush still in my cheeks- as the Great Fairy gave me a smirk.

"You remind me of the fabled Hero of Time." He crossed the pool until he was standing in front of me- and he was only just slightly taller than me. "She was kind and brave, but it seems that you inherited an old weakness of hers. The poor girl was unable to resist the sight of aesthetically pleasing men- even if they were of questionable morale."

That part confused me. "What do you-"

He then cupped my chin and kissed me on the lips.

"W-why did you do that?!" I stammered and blushed as I took a step back. "That was my first kiss!" Which, sadly, was the truth.

He let out a giggle- which seemed odd, and yet unsurprising. "Well, maybe if you _listened_, my dear hero, you would have known that I wanted to show my appreciation. And now, you have my protection- the springs inhabited by the light spirits are now the homes of my brethren. They will heal you, upon exhaustion, though I'd advise that you ask them politely, if you wish to take one with you- they don't like having to be bottled up for long periods of time."

He then turned into a shower of colorful lights. "Good luck, and may fortune be with you on your quest!" His voice echoed as the lights flickered and then faded.

There was an awkward silence.

"...You know, I think I should add a new meaning to the name 'Lady Wolf' Lady W-"

"Zant!" I warned him.

_That_ aside, we quickly found out that the bulbins had set up a base near Arbitor's Grounds.

"Why would the bulbins be here?" I wondered. "Everywhere we go, they always show up."

I then found the familiar boar like creatures that the bulbins rode, and, without even thinking it over, thought it would be a good idea to ride one through the wooden barricades that blocked my way into the Arbitor's Grounds. The end result was that I was hanging onto the saddle for dear life as the enraged beast charged it's way across the sands.

I found myself missing Epona more than ever. Even though I had been in a similar predicament with her, at least she didn't always behave like this.

Oh yes, there was also the golden wolf, waiting for me on the path to the old prison. I was more than eager for a reason to get off the large boar when I saw it.

-?..._ again_.-

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to come so soon." The shade greeted me as I readied my sword up. "Are you ready to have your endurance tested?"

I let out a laugh. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

He let out a sigh. "When you are me, an interruption is a welcome."

Another lesson went by, with the teaching of the helm splitter. However, I began to realize something- why was it that I could see this specter, and why was he teaching me?

After he praised my success, I asked the specter my question.

"Who are you? Why do you choose to help me?" I asked. "Are you a divine being sent by the goddesses? Have you known one of the previous heroes?"

The shade was quiet. "...When all the skills have been passed on... that is when I will tell you my story."

-present-

Zant was humming that strange song again when I woke up.

"Sorry about that." I apologized as I got up. In turn, he immediately retreated into my shadows without saying anything, having been used to this by now.

As I had suspected, the bulbins had set up what seemed to be a permanent base- suggested by the wooden base that was smack dab in the middle of the maze like structure. I had quite a time taking them out with my arrows, but my main worry had yet to show his great big head- provided that he survived the fall from our last encounter.

"Where is our voluptuous opponent?" Zant also wondered as I entered the wooden base, where a boar was standing idly by, for some odd reason.

"That's what I would like to know." I replied as I approached the boar.

Without warning, something large swung into the boar and sent it to the poor creature, before it ran into me and sent me flying to the ground.

It felt as if my internal organs were smashed and the affected spot hurt more than anything. How I survived it was a matter that I still could not understand.

I struggled to get up to see King Bulbin with a heavy looking axe like weapon. Both his horns had been broken in half, and he was very angry to see me.

"This must be the third time for us." Zant mused as I managed to fight off the pain and got up, to face King Bulbin.

It wasn't that hard of a fight because, even though he was larger and had a stronger, deadlier weapon, I wasn't carrying around something as heavy and was a lot faster than he was. I was able to easily dodge his swings and attack him in the back until he was able to turn around. From there, it was rinse and repeat, until he dropped his weapon, staggered from exhaustion and fell to the ground.

As for the Master Sword, everything about it seemed perfect. The right weight, the right feel, the right sharpness- I could have sworn that it was made especially for me, if it wasn't the sacred blade of heroes past. The Master Sword made quick work of King Bulbin, and the part of me that was fond of swords was both giddy and in total adoration of it.

"Excellent, Lady Wolf." Zant praised. "You made good work of him with that lovely sword of yours."

I let out an embarrassed smirk as King Bulbin got up and dragged himself out, with one hand gingerly clutching his free, but limp arm to the outside.

And then, the gate shut behind him, and trapped me inside. And as if to make it interesting, the whole building suddenly began to burn up in flames.

Why is it that every time I need to do something, I have to face the risk of being set on fire? This was the second time I was trapped in a burning building!

Thankfully this was the moment that the boar recovered and got up. I took my chances, got on the beast, and kicked it as hard as I could as I held on tight.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" I yelled at it. The beast didn't need to be told twice and crashed through another set of gates, and out of the structure. It was so furious that it charged though multiple gates as it took me away from the burning death trap.

-Arbitor's Grounds-

Eventually, the boar calmed down and it trotted up to an ancient building, built like a colosseum, with the insignia of the Triforce over it's entrance. Towering above all, were six pillars that could be seen all the way from Lake Hylia.

"I can't believe we're here." I was impressed, but at the same time, I felt a wave of dread. "Arbitor's Grounds."

This was once sacred Gerudo grounds. Until the war changed it into the most feared place Hyrule had ever known- the condemned never returned, and even when this place had been abandoned, it still carried horrific legends and rumors of ghosts.

"Why would my ancestors out the Mirror of Twilight here, of all places?" I wondered.

"Are you afraid?" Zant asked. "We were among the first criminals of this land, so why should that be a surprise?"

"It's legacy scares me." I admitted. "But I can't turn back now."

"As expected of you." He sounded pleased. "Considering the large beasts you have faced, and the traps you've dodged, this could be like child's play."

Arbitor's Grounds wasn't as scary as I thought it would be- it was overrun with quicksand and strange beasts, and there was a surprising number of torches that were alight.

But there was a downside- it was filled with deadly traps and contraptions that were still in use, and it also contained horrific poe like specters and ghostly rats.

Oh, speaking of those rats, I found out about their existence when Zant decided to come out of my shadow. Moments later, he suddenly began to flail his arms and dance like a mad man as he let out terrible screeching noises.

"GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" He screeched.

And I was only able to sense them when I used my senses as a wolf. I made quick work of them, though I knocked Zant on his back in the process.

"...Thanks." He finally wheezed and collapsed his head to the floor.

Even though all these ghosts were off putting, I could still feel a reassurance somewhere around me, and I faced them head on. Also, I was rewarded for my bravery in a surprising way, after defeating the worst of the ghosts (and presumably, a dangerous spirt, considering the chains and wards that were placed upon it's sword.)

"What a strange contraption." Zant looked at the mechanized top that I found, which was big enough to stand on.

"I believe this was one of those spinners that the archeitcets made for getting around this place." I thought out loud. "I don't know it's actual name, but... I guess we should call it the spinner, just to make it easier for us."

The spinner was useful for moving up and down the grooves that I found around the old prison, but there was a down side: I had to spin around along with it. I don't know how it was that I didn't fall off as I gained speed on it, but seeing as that I was not familiar with ancient mechanisms, it wasn't a concern. I was more curious about why this place existed in the first place and why it became a prison.

"Perhaps when we are done here, I would like to try out this contraption." Zant spoke before we entered the last room.

"What I would like is a second set of eyes." I confessed. "I think this thing is going to make me dizzy."

When I entered the final room, there wasn't anything interesting- it was slightly dark, and there was the skeleton of some old beast half buried in the pit. "Must have been caged here, centuries ago." I mused.

"Ah, fancy seeing you here, Miss Hero." A familiar voice mock greeted me.

I glanced up in time to see a familiar looking woman appear on top of the beast's skull, and I quickly pulled the Master Sword out (all while hoping that it would keep me from being cursed _yet_ again.)

"I'm surprised that you're not a wolf." Midna crossed her arms and rested her chin over one of her fists. "Considering how you were Zant's lap dog, it was fitting. You must really be something if you undid the curse."

I growled in anger. "It's thanks to you that the prince is dead! What are you gaining from all of this?!"

Midna sighed. "That was a shame, since I was growing fond of him." She admitted. "He liked you so much he practically begged me to leave you alone." She let out a giggle. "He was more of an obedient mutt then you were."

"At least he put his subjects before you did!" I snarled. "Only a tyrant puts themselves before their people!"

Midna shot me a dark glare. "You don't know me- you don't have the right to call me a tyrant."

"It doesn't matter." I held my sword out. "I need to stop you-"

"And now we start with the heroic dialogue." Midna sighed as a sword ridden with runes appeared in between her then out stretched hands. "Man, you all are the same aren't you? 'I'm going to stop you' she says." She rolled her eyes at me. "Like she thinks she's a storybook hero or something! I suppose-"

It was at that moment, Zant appeared right behind Midna.

"I suppose I need to make you less of a threat." He finished for her.

As Midna turned around in confusion, Zant suddenly held a hand out in front of her face and I heard a strange hissing sound.

"Consider this karma for trying to kill me, my dear!" He smugly told her.

"You dirty little-" Midna snarled and then shoved the sword into the skull of the beast, which sent red vein like markings across it.

She gave me a dark look, just as her body began to turn black. "I am _so_ going to kill the both of you, when I get the chance!"

She vanished as the red lines faded and the beast's eyes began to glow.

I watched in shock as the beast- the Stalord- rose from the sands. Zant quickly disappeared from the top of the skull, and I could sense that he returned to my side.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" I cried out over the beasts roars.

"I was trying to help you!" Zant's voice spoke as corpse like warriors rose up from the sands.

After a quick survey of what I had to do, I made Zant be my guide for when I rode the spinner. I had no choice but to give him my complete trust as the world began to spin around me and I closed my eyes, so I wouldn't get sick.

"Leap off." He told me, and I detached the spinner off the track with the jerk of my body, go left!" I then felt it collide against something. "Now go forward!"

It worked out surprisingly well. I just allowed him to tell me where to go and when to attack, and the entire battle became a joint effort as I broke Stalord down, backbone section by backbone section.

Of course, the 'fun' really began in round two: I thought I had defeated Stalord and the sand parted to reveal a chasm and a mechanism for the spinner, which made the center of the room go up, towards a higher level.

"I'm glad that's over." I looked at the doorway across the chasm. Just as I was thinking of how to cross over, I sensed something moving behind me and turned around.

The skull just _had_ to still contain Midna's magic and float right behind me.

The skull knocked me off as I hesitated and, though I survived the fall, I was still upset about the fact that the fight wasn't over yet.

"I'm still here to help." Zant assured me as I got up and shook out the shock of the fall.

"I'll need it." I agreed as I got on the spinner and made my way to the pillar, which had a track for my weapon.

What resulted was a game of catch, in which I had to let Zant tell me when it was safe to spiral up the column, and when it was time to leap to the other side, when the skull sent balls of energy at me. My part came when I had to strike the beast's sword- the source of the magic- until it finally shattered and the head was sent tumbling up and around the room, before it was destroyed.

I let out a sigh and sat down beside it- I was incredibly dizzy, from riding the spinner so much, and I felt like I was going to hurl at any second.

"We made a good team, didn't we?" Zant asked.

I let out a weak laugh. "I would have found the spinner to be fun, if it wasn't for the fact that I keep spinning around so much! I'd rather use a sword over it, any day."

I finally made my way out of the chamber, and back outside, where I found the mirror chamber.

The mirror itself didn't appear until I had to use the spinner to ride a statue, to reveal a large slab of stone, and a flight of stairs to the mirror itself. But even then, we were in for a nasty surprise when we approached the mirror.

It was evidently broken, and all that there was in it's container was just a good quarter of it.

Zant let out a series of curses and sounds that were neither human nor animal.

"I am sorry for my stupidity." He hissed through clenched teeth. "I should not have placed that curse upon her."

"Come again?" I raised an eyebrow as my disbelief furthered.

"I was trying to make her less powerful, in the event that it could have been of use to us. I forgot that it was in her power to break the Mirror of Twilight- she must have done it to stall for time to recover."

I was about to ask him to explain that a bit more in detail- especially considering that I felt my anger rise up- when I sensed that we weren't alone. Something told me to look up and that's when I saw strange, ethereal figures perched on top of the towers and their insignias. There were at least five in total and, they didn't look human despite their appearance.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"_We are sages."_ One of them spoke. "_We have guarded the Mirror of Twilight since ancient times."_

"_A dark entity lurks in the twilight... it houses an evil power..." _One of them continued.

"_You who are guided by fate... you who possess the crest of he goddesses... hear us." _

"_A dark entity lurks in the twilight... it houses an evil power... The Mirror of Twilight has been shattered a mighty magic. That magic is a dark power that only _he_ posses..."_

"Who?" I asked.

"_His name... is Ganondorf."_

"_He was the leader of a band of thieves who invaded Hyrule in the hopes of establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm."_

"_He was known as a demon thief, an evil-magic wielder renowned for his ruthlessness..."_

"The great war." I recalled my history. "I know that name: Ganondorf Dragmire. He was known as the last leader of the Gerudo Tribe. He believed that the royal family was protecting the entrance to the sacred realm, and he was more than willing to send out a warning of bloodshed by destroying the Kokiri Forest.

"_He committed horrible acts."_ They agreed._ "But he was blind... In all of his fury and might, he was blind to any danger and thus was exposed, subdued, and brought to justice."_

"_A child came with a warning of what was to come, should Hyrule give into defeat: a future ruled by darkness, and enslavement to all of the races of Hyrule. She brought together all of Hyrule, and they took him and his army down in one swoop, for the protection of their future, and to give justice to the lost children of the woods."_

"_A child who was bestowed the title of the Hero of Time. A child who was destined to become a Queen of Hyrule."_

I smiled at this mention of a past legacy, before I frowned. "So why would this be important?"

"_By some divine prank, he too had been blessed with the chosen power of the gods. He survived the blow that should have ended his life, and laughed in our faces as he displayed that power before our eyes."_

"_We knew that he was too dangerous for this world. He killed our sixth brother- the sage of water- with an unnatural ease that shouldn't be possible for even a magically endowed mortal or a spirit."_

_There was only one who could stop him- the fated child- but she had already done more than enough for Hyrule, and we could not afford to wait until she was old enough to take up the sacred blade that you now possess. We had no choice, but to banish him into the world beyond the mirror."_

"_His abiding hatred and lust for power turned to purest malice."_ One of them moaned.

"_Perhaps that evil power has been passed on to the Princess of Twilight..."_ Another speculated.

"Unfortunately, that is no longer our concern." Zant glared at all of them. The Mirror of Twilight is scattered across Hyrule."

"_One fragment is in the snowy mountain heights..."_ The sages told us. _"One is in an ancient grove... And one is in the heavens..."_

"_You who have been sent by the goddesses... You should be able to gather the three pieces... but you must be prepared, for a dangerous power resides in those fragments..."_

"That won't be a problem." I promised. "I've resisted the use of the fused shadows- I will resist them too."

"_We wish you the best of fortune, young one." They spoke, before fading away. "Though we fear the same cannot be said, for those who come across those shards."_

They completely disappeared, leaving me to ponder over what to do.

"..._Could_ Midna have found that same power?" I asked Zant. What on earth was this power, and was it that same power of the gods that they told us about?

"It is highly possible." He confessed. "And if this is a power to be feared, I'd advise that we hurry along to one of those locations."

-Twilight Palace-

In the palace courtyard, there played two young, near identical twili. Both were in their mid teens, and had the curious rarity of having purplish black hair, rather than the common red hair of the twili tribe.

The long haired one giggled as a shadow insect, rubbed it's back shell under her jawbone. "Stop it Demi, that tickles!" She carefully picked it up and gave it a caress to it's belly with her finger. An additional trio of shadow insect eagerly flew up, waiting and desiring the caress of their loving mistress.

"You spoil your insects, Ariadne." The shorter haired one chided as she glanced at a snake that wrapped itself around her fore arm and was swaying it's upper body back and forth. It's scales gave off a pleasing, iridescent shine and she hummed a lovely melody for it.

"Says the one who allows Draco to cuddle your arms and legs without complaint!" Ariadne shot back. "We may be handmaidens, dear Daphne, but it doesn't stop him from making you wrapped around his finger as we go about our day!"

Just before Daphne could say something back, the twins noticed something approaching them. A small something that was hovering in the air.

"Is that a...?" Ariadne wondered as the thing approached them. It looked an awful lot like an imp, but it seemed familiar to her, and wore the strangest looking head gear she had ever seen. In fact, the imp had the exact same body pattern as-

"Ariadne!" It barked at her in an all too familiar voice. "Daphne!"

The two gasped.

"...Midna?!" Daphne allowed Draco to stay on her arm as she got up. "What happened to-"

"Not now!" Midna snapped at Daphne, and Draco gave her a warning hiss as he prepared himself to protect his dearest mistress. "I need the people to hear an important announcement without seeing me! Now escort me to my chambers!"

* * *

><p>Zant's new friend: Inspired by Hyrule Warriors, naturally.<p>

The Great Fairy: I have a theory about the Great Fairy in Twilight Princess, which ties to this version of the game, as he flat out implied. Also, I wanted to bring back an old joke from Skyward Swaps.

And I'll say this: I might not do an entire Ocarina of Time swap, but I can guarantee one thing: that version of Sheik is NOT female and DEFINITELY someone from the Zelda series you may know, who will pop up in a possible Hyrule Warriors swap. I already dropped a hint as to who it is. ;)

Awesome on paper, but not in real life: I highly doubt Link could have used that spinner the same way we did, playing the game. You would have to have someone guiding you, if you kept spinning around on that thing, trying to take down the fan favorite boss of Twilight Princess.

The Mirror: In the game, Zant smashed the mirror, to keep Link and Midna away from him. At least, that's what I understand. Here, I needed to give a good reason as to why the same thing could happen here, since Midna is not the cowardly type, and I promise that this will not be permanent. In fact, I am going to ask you guys on what you wold like to see in the face off of Zelda vs Midna :)

Ganondorf: ...I can't do it again guys. I couldn't choose Nabooru, because of one important thing that I couldn't resist for the future. Ganondorf possessing Link: how often does _that _happen? Come on, you know you want it!

And so, with that... wait. Hold on a sec-

* * *

><p>"Lexi?" HolyMaiden24 saw Lexi- out of her boomerang- cowering in fear on her couch. "What are you doing here?"<p>

"For some reason, I was sensing this feeling of intense hatred and jealousy radiating off the Master Sword." Lexi moaned. "And then it felt smug when I heard Zelda mention how she'd rather have the sword over the spinner. I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Should I be worried about this?"

HolyMaiden24 went silent as Lexi rambled, before pulling out a notebook and wrote something down: _Dont tell Lexi about the Master Sword._

"You know, you don't have to break the fourth wall and crash at my place to get away from your paranoia." HolyMaiden tried to console Lexi as she put the notebook away. "I mean, Zelda might need you, what with-"

For some reason, the ground began to shake. Like, _really_ shake. And the sky outside turned dark.

"...The heck?" Confused, HolyMaiden24 went outside, followed by Lexi. "Are we having an earthquake?!"

The two stepped outside a good distance from where HolyMaiden24 resided and looked around. For some odd reason, the daytime sky went dark as there was something blocking the sun, high above them.

"...Must be a solar eclipse." HolyMaiden24 commented, just as the ground stopped shaking. "Ok...weird." She raised her eyebrow before looking down back at Lexi.

"So, as I was saying, it's nothing you really need to worry, about." She continued as the sky slowly returned to it's normal lighting. "Just, whatever you do, don't-"

Gut instinct told her to look up. Like "LOOK UP!" look up, and look up she did. Time suddenly seemed to slow down, and she only had time to acknowledge exactly what was quickly approaching her from up above in the heavens.

"Is that the-?"

Her sentence was cut short as a beach ball sized version of The Moon from Majora's Mask slammed down over her head. The end result being that The Moon had somehow gained the body of a twenty something year old female.

Time stopped.

Lexi silently stared at The Moon. The Moon glared at Lexi. This exchange lasted for a good ten seconds.

HolyMaiden24 then fell to the ground. Once that happened, the moon rolled off HolyMaiden24's shoulders... revealing that it had squashed her skull and neck, and leaving her body entirely devoid of both.

It took Lexi a moment to realize what just happened.

"...OH SWEET NAYRU!" Lexi's panic button was hit and she began to freak out. "THE MOON KILLED HOLYMAIDEN24! THE MOON KILLED MY BOSS AND I'M OUT OF THE JOB! HOW WILL I EXPLAIN THIS TO THE FOLLOWERS OF THE FAN FIC! WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?! I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO MY OLD JOB!"

She noticed the sickening sight one more time- for some reason, The Moon had the 'U mad bro?' troll face, with the sign next to it, that said "Congrats on the Majora's Mask Re-make! Coming 2/13/15!"

"OH DIN, THAT'S DISGUSTING!" She cried out. "I'M GOING TO HURL ON MY SHOES!" And she was about to do just that, when a paper note suddenly dropped from the sky. Pausing from her panic long enough to be curious, Lexi picked it up and read it.

_If you wish to bring HolyMaiden24 back to life, you must bring Zelda and Zant to the Hall of Doors. Try to find her soul- if you dare!_

* * *

><p>TO BE CONTINUED!<p>

"Ah crap, I'll have to answer to everyone's comments now, wont I? Well, I'll do the best I can."


	9. The Hall of Doors

EDIT: Since there was a lack of censoring on certain curse words, this chapter will be fixed... and I owe someone an apology. Something was added at the very end of this chapter, as punishment for what was done.

Hey y'all: Lexi here! Seeing as HolyMaiden24 is currently dead (for the time being, I hope!) I'm going to respond to your comments!

PsychoFangirl: Aw, considering that she was doubting that she was getting Zant's character right, that's sweet. Also... I managed to take that chill pill, but I don't see how I can perform CPR or Mouth to mouth since... well... Her head was smashed to bits, so I don't have a mouth to breath into. O_o

Baron Ricardo: Ooo, nice screen name! Me likey- makes you sound distinguished! I checked the rough draft and saw that she was going to call him Sir Serpent. I don't know why she didn't go with it.

HeroAlexa249: OMG! YOU'RE THAT REVIEWER I WAS NAMED AFTER! :D :D :D!

Arbitor's Grounds did look like a pain in the ass. HolyMaiden24 kept saying that it was an ok level, (though she needed to use the strategy guide for it.) I also agree that Zant and Agitha should be best friends!

Ayako Zetra: Why is the logic in our world so bad? You should see our climate issues! I just don't get video game logic sometimes, but HM24 did say that the spinner was illogical to begin with... but on the other hand, it doesn't scare me as much as the Master Sword does.

Phoenix Champion: FEMALE TINGLE?! It's bad enough I have to worry about Tingle as a guy! Though If you really want to see something like that, check out Tingle's games! Ever heard of Pinkle? Yeah, there's a good reason those games weren't given out world wide... then again, I suppose there's always fan art. *shivers*

ThePastReliesOnMemories: I think that the big reveal is going to be shown a little later at the palace of twilight. (But that would have been funny if any spoilers came too soon.) Also, since this chapter was recently edited, I owe you an apology for only responding with one word. in the original version of this chapter. 'Ditto' was not a good response.

Tjfanfics99: Le gasp! Is it the real deal?! Oh man, I want to put it on, but something tells me to wait for the right moment. It sounds like everyone likes the whole Zant and Agitha thing, which is pretty sweet.

Chapter 9: Hall of Doors.

* * *

><p>When Zelda and her unique companion awoke, they found themselves laying on marble floors, in a strange place that was made up of several corridors, with doors on each end.<p>

If you have seen The Beatles Yellow Submarine, it's pretty much like that one place with all the doors, but without The Beatles.

"Um," A bewildered Zelda got up off the floor. "What just happened? Weren't we at the Mirror Chamber?"

"We were." Zant recalled. "We were about to discuss the location of the mirror shards, when we both blacked out, to find ourselves in this curious place."

"I brought you guys here." They turned their heads to see Lexi- in full, human form- with a huge bag by her side. "See, the thing is-"

"Lexi?" Zelda was surprised. "Why are you a-"

"Who is this?" Zant asked Zelda.

"The gale boomerang. Apparently it's sentient."

Lexi held a hand up with a sigh. "That's not important. The thing is, your world is in danger and will cease to exist, unless we can find the spirit of the authoress."

"Come again?" Zelda asked. "What what do you-"

Lexi quickly pulled at the bag and a headless body came tumbling out.

"What the-?!" Zelda backed away as fast as possible and felt a sickness rise up insider her at the gory sight. Zant, however, stared on with great interest at the body. "How did that happen?" He asked.

"The Moon from Majora's Mask crash landed on her head." Lexi recalled with a shudder.

"..._Fascinating_."

"That aside," Lexi turned to Zelda. "I... kind of put a special implant in both of you, so that you would know which door is the right one- trust me, you want to bring this one back from the dead. See, I kind of have the rights as authoress now and... uh... I put them to good use a while ago."

-a while ago-

"Ok you two." Lexi grinned at Ilia and Groose (Both very confused as to what was going on) from behind a doorframe. "You both need to have yourself a potential love interest, and I need to keep you from one of my OTPs. Now get yourselves aquatinted and go make ugly haired babies!"

And with that, she slammed the door.

"I'm so going to start up a new crack ship!" Lexi grinned to herself as she moved onto the next door, where Agitha and Stritch were already discussing about bugs.

"So far so good with the possible ancestor and descendant friendship." Lexi's grin was more pleasant before she gently closed the door and moved onto the next one.

She frowned- Cawlin was all by himself, without a female companion. She was debating about choosing either Peatrice of that one knitting girl from the concept art in Hyrule Historia, but she wasn't sure about it.

"...Uh... you know what? Why don't I just give you some PG-13 Hyrule editions of bikini magazines." She snapped her fingers and towers of magazines surrounded the blue haired young man.

-present-

Lexi chuckled like an idiot at the memory as Zant levitated the headless body in front of him (The end result made him look like a young woman wearing his helmet, or an obsessed fan girl.) "Also, I need to take care of two things."

She snapped her fingers twice. Zelda's clothing had been replaced with a modest bikini, of all things, and Zant-

"WHAT IN TWILIGHT'S NAME DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU DEPRAVED WOMAN?!"

Lexi turned as HolyMaiden24's body dropped to the floor to reveal that Zant had been turned into an Imp that was hovering in mid-air. And he was NOT happy about this, or how much karma bit him in the butt.

"Well, considering that you weren't an Imp in this fanfic, I figured I'd give the readers a little something." Lexi happily explained. "Especially the one I'm named after: HeroAlexa249! I owe it to her!"

"I'm going to kill you, when this is over." Zant coldly promised. Considering that he would normally be shrieking and raving, this was somehow more intimidating than it should have been.

"What about me?!" Zelda demanded as she tried covering herself up. "What is with this outfit?"

"HolyMaiden24 promised fan service in chapter 4 and I personally thought that it wasn't enough." Lexi winked at the fourth wall. "So I'm doing a certain demographic a favor."

Zelda let out a moan of protest- her only comfort was that she still had her sword and shield.

"Now then!" Lexi snapped her fingers and the body disappeared. "Let's start looking!"

-And the door opening thus commenced-

Lexi opened the first door: Purlo was resting on a pile of rupees. "My beauties." he cooed at them. "Your owners just keep pouring you out of their wallets."

"Nope." Lexi closed the door.

Zant opened a door: Telma could be seen in a fancy nightie, on a bed with Louise by her side as she gazed longingly at a pillow she was cuddling.

"Oh Reny-boo," She cooed. "Take me away, into those mountains, away to a place where we can be by our naughty lonesomes."

"No." Zant slammed the door as Telma began to kiss the pillow.

Zelda opened a door:

"You ever noticed how Zelda's shadow looks bigger than it should be?" Talo asked the other kids. "I could have sworn it moved when she didn't."

"Maybe it was the angle of the sun." Malo rolled his eyes.

"No." Zelda closed the door.

Lexi opened the next: All the male members of Ordon Village were in the water of Ordon Springs, wearing nothing but shorts and exposing their upper bodies for all the world to see.

"Ah, that's the spot!" Mayor Bo grinned. "A hard day's work makes something like this feel well deserved!"

"Ugh." Lexi wrinkled her nose. "I want to see hot guys! Not half-naked married and middle aged men!"

-Some time later-

"O mi Gosh! I totes kised him lik crazy! I was lost in those shinning orbs as they passionly gazd at me! I felt lik a goddes dancin in the light of the sun a-"

"O, com on!" Lexi snarled as she shut the dor wih fury.

"Here?" Zant asked an opened a door. Inside was a church, with wedding music playing, and creepy statues of child Link and child Zelda were dressed in wedding clothes (along with a top hat for the former.) In front of them, with a book in his hands, was a rather tall, pale man in a spiffy tux.

"Do you, Ben Drowned," He began. "Take Beth Drowned, to be your lawfully wedded wife, so long as your creepy pasta lore, or the internet, shall live?"

"Meh." Zant shut the door.

"What the-" Zelda picked up a rock that she stepped on and read something written on it, just as she opened the next door.

"No, it's Jason Griffith?" She raised an eye brow as she opened it. "What-"

"ZZZZZzzzz... Roger Craig Smith has the best Sonic the Hedgehog voice...ZZZZZZZ-"

For some odd reason- as if compelled to do so- Zelda threw the rock at the person's head.

"WTF?!" The person jolted awake, just as Zelda shut the door.

-later again-

"Here?" Zelda opened the door to see a pixilated 8-bit world and 8-bit versions of octoroks, moblins, tektites, etc. They were all looking at one moblin in particular.

"We must honor the memory of one of this series most beloved fans ever." This moblin began to speak in a serene voice. "We shall go through the internet and give fair warning to those who bully his family and especially his daughter! We must end cyber-bullying in their names! Go forth, my brothers and sisters, for we must remind the world of the internet of kindness and generosity, as demonstrated by that glorious man, and ensure that his loved ones do not deserve the harshness nor cruelty of hurtful words or images."

"Long live Robin Williams!" The creatures of the Legend of Zelda cheered out. "Long live Zelda Rae Williams!"

"I don't get it, but that was kind of sweet." Zelda commented as she closed the door. "Though now I feel guilty about throwing that rock at that person's head earlier."

"This one?" Lexi opened the door. To her surprise, she saw Zant seated at a table, along with Agitha... and a strange blue haired young man.

"So, this is a recurring problem in every other time period?" Zant asked the blue haired man.

"Yeah, cucoos seem to have disappeared in your time." The blue haired man spoke. "Apparently they were close to extension, and a preservation was set up, so that they could re-populate. And now, Hyrule is in more danger of cuccoo fury than ever before."

"Oh, hi there!" Agitha saw Lexi and cheerfully waved.

"Uh, hi?" Lexi awkwardly waved.

"Oh, it's that one girl." Zant noticed Lexi and waved too. "I take it that your in the weird place with all the doors."

"Uh... yes. Whose the japanese anime school boy?"

"Uh, my name's Liam." The blue haired man answered. "Let's just say that I'm a gender swapped version of Lana, from your world's version of Hyrule Warriors, and leave it at that."

"Works for me!" Lexi closed the door.

"...Huh," Zant was inside one of the rooms, which was filled with lots of Legend of Zelda fan fiction which was categorized in certain orders. "I see people like writing stories about characters from Hyrule... and for some reason, I see a few with an 'x' or a '/' between my name and Zelda."

He shrugged and glanced onto the next set. "I see some listed under those strange symbols with me and Midna... and that 'Ganondorf' the sages spoke of... whose 'Ghirahim'?" he wondered at the strange name, before shrugging. "I doubt any of this would hold any interest for me." He then left the room, never to return again.

-Later still-

Lexi, Zelda, and Zant stared at a door- or rather, the plaque next to it.

"Zelda's villain-in-game room." Lexi read out loud. "I guess you have some enemies, Zel?"

"I suppose." Zelda thought about Midna in that moment.

With a shrug, Lexi opened the door.

Inside, was Zelda- dressed in not so modest clothing- on a sofa with a certain number of recognizable Zelda villains at her side. Vaati was twisting his finger around a strand of her hair, Shadow (or Dark) Link was lying down and resting his head on her lap as he gave her a wicked grin that revealed sharp, animalistic teeth, Ganon had Zelda's right hand in one hand and looking intently at it, and Ghirahim was close enough to Zelda's neck that his notoriously long tongue looked like it was about to lick the exposed flesh.

It looked like fan art that you cant stop looking at, because of what was depicted.

There was an awkward silence from the trio who bore witness to this risky scene. Zelda, in particular, was turning a deep shade of red.

"That is quite a group of suitors you have." Zant could only comment.

Lexi slowly closed the door. "Why don't we keep looking?" She managed to ask. In an attempt to create a distraction, Zant moved onto the next door and opened it.

"Gosh! I wonder what Ganon's up to?!"

"NO!" Zelda suddenly panicked and shut the door as hard as she could before Zant could open it all the way. She moved away from it as far as she could and looked as if she had opened up a mental scar or had a horrible nightmare.

"I can still here them." She let out a nervous laugh. "Squadala... something about a duck walk... bringing light to a lair... bad animation... PHILIPS CD-I!" She shrieked. "MAKE IT STOP!"

When Zelda finally recovered, she went to the next one.

"Ok Pokemon anime company!" A snarling voice could be heard. "Why are Team Rocket still following Ash and Pikachu after all these years?! We're getting real tired of this, and they don't serve much of a purpose half the time!"

Zelda shut the door. "Nothing here." She answered.

"What's this one?" Zant asked as he noticed the plaque. "What is a 'yaoi' room?"

Unfortunately, curiosity killed more than the cat.

"_He gazd was pashionite as he stroked his lover's dainty chin and gazed into those saphire seas of eyes. He was unbearaly handsom, lik a greek god- the face of Adonis. the was a chil in the nite air-"_

Feeling a sickness rise up his stomach at the abundance of words and spelling errors, Zant slammed the door.

Lexi saw the plague of the next door.

"Zelda's blue-smash room." She thought about this. "By logic and experience, this should be like that one room, but with something related to the Super Smash Bros franchise." She grinned. "So that means, we get to see Marth and Ike! Oh baby, do I want to see them!" She opened the door and-

Zelda was resting up against King Dedede (who had a smug grin on his face), Lucario was resting his head in her lap as he played around with a ball of aura, Meta Knight was perched on top of the couch, and was resting himself against her head, and Sonic the Hedgehog... was relaxing by her feet and seemed disinterested in what was going on.

The scene was a lot less suggestive than the last one, but still...

Lexi snorted. "_Wow!_ This is more awkward than the last door!"

"Lexi?!" Zelda asked as she began to approach the boomerang spirit. "What are you-"

"NOTHING!" Lexi quickly slammed the door shut. "Look, if you value your sanity... don't open that door.

Zant then chose to open the next door.

"Why do people still complain about the whole bestiality thing in Sonic 06?!" Someone from inside the room yelled. "So it's ok when you have a couple like Roger and Jessica Rabbit, but it isn't when-"

Zant shut the door with a sigh as Lexi face palmed. "I think I'm going to need a moment to recover from the Sonic jokes." She muttered. "Or the bad romance jokes."

She had her wish granted when Zelda opened another door.

"Man, why did Spider-Man 3 have to be such a mess?" Someone spoke. "If Sony wasn't so picky, or they took out the lame parts, it would have been good. The only good part was the birth of Sandman scene."

"Or maybe Uncle Ben was slacking off in that car of his in heaven." A second replied.

"You know what heaven would be in that version of Spider-Man?" The other then asked. "J. Jonah Jameson having a cigar with Doc Dok while the two just talk about stuff. Now I'd pay to see that scene."

-Lat- HOW MANY DOORS DID THIS PLACE HAVE?! JEEZ!-

All three were collapsed on the floor. Their hands were sore, their feet were sore, and they were sick of seeing so many doors.

"Where the heck IS HOLYMAIDEN2444444444444!" Lexi cried out in frustration.

"Can't their be a quicker way to do this?" Zelda asked. "If anything we've seen are beyond the rest of the doors, then I'd rather take my chances on our world being in danger."

"Ugh! It's times like this that I could use some kind of dowsing ability!" Lexi threw her hands up in the air.

...

...

...What, did you honestly think you'd get _that_ deus ex machina?

"Here's an idea." Zant looked at Zelda. "If we turn my companion into a wolf, and you give us something that belongs to your boss, we can probably find her soul."

"...Oh, my, goddesses, your right!" Lexi snapped her fingers. "Hang on a sec!"

A minute later (not a second) she came back with a random shirt. As if by an insane stroke of luck, Zelda was able to scout out the correct door... with Zant ridding her back.

He felt like he was compelled to do it, for some reason.

"This better be the right one." Zelda began as soon as she returned to normal. With fingers crossed, they opened the door and-

"OH GODS, MAKE IT STOP! I BEG YOU!"

In what appeared to be the Shadow Temple from Ocarina of Time, of all places, there was a huge bottle in the middle of the room. Inside it was the blue tinted form of HolyMaiden24, who was writhing and cringing in pain at the bottom.

They assumed the reason was because of the music playing, which was just too ear bleedingly bad to listen to. No seriously, it was so bad, that you'd want to relive a bad day instead. Everyone had to cover their ears to block it out.

"STOP! AGH!" The writer screamed out, and suddenly, the trio felt pity for her

The music suddenly shut off and the sound of silence was welcoming, though the memory was doomed to haunt their ears.

Though the silence was broke through a strange "Da-da-da-dahhhh!" sound that the reader is familiar with.

"Oh, there's the signal!" Lexi chirped. "I forgot about that."

"I can't take this anymore." A deep, rough, but very regretful voice spoke out. "This doesn't give me joy: watching you be this miserable reminds me of the misery I cause to others."

"Thank you." HolyMaiden24 sighed in relief as she slowly got up. It was then that she noticed Lexi. "LEXI?!" She gasped. "Oh thank- wait," She noticed Zelda and Zant. "Uh... why is Zelda in a bikini and Zant an Imp?"

"You gave me your writing abilities, in the event something happened to you." Lexi answered.

"May I ask why you were being tortured with bad music?" Zant asked. "It looked unbearable, and it seemed that it has gone on for awhile. An effective method of torturing, I'll admit, but still questionable."

"It was horrible!" HolyMaiden24 wept. "My torturer is actually a nice guy, but he said I had to be punished for my crimes! I was forced to listen to James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" every three songs, but that wasn't all! I had to listen to that one song from Final Fantasy 9 before the final boss that makes you feel like your in hell, a bunch of c****y singles by celebrities, and I had to listen to _f***ing_ 'Bathing Beauties' from Love Never Dies! I don't know what's worse: how nasally it is, or the context behind it!" She groaned. "And I had to listen to passages from the worst books imaginable on tape ever. If I have to hear how 'unbearably perfect' someone is, one more time-"

"We came to bring you back to life, so everything's going to be fine!" Zelda quickly cut her off.

"Guess what the kicker is." HolyMaiden24 glumly added as she jabbed a thumb to the side. The trio turned to see the writer's torturer make himself known to them.

"...NO WAY!" Lexi's jaw dropped. "DARKRAI?!"

"Hello." The fabled nightmare pokemon waved his hand at them. "I didn't want to be here. Honestly, I just in the middle of a good book, until I was dragged into this mess."

"Apparently the reminder of Darkrai being an event only pokemon was part of my punishment." HolyMaiden24 continued. "...I hate you Nintendo." She growled.

"Actually, there IS going to be another Darkrai event, at the time of when this chapter was/is written." Lexi began and HolyMaiden24 raised her head up in hope. "At least in the UK."

The writer bashed her forehead into the side of the bottle at this turn of luck.

"Can you turn us back to normal now?" Zant whined a little. "I'm tired of being an Imp."

"And I'm freezing!" Zelda hugged herself as the cool air of the room hit her harder than it should have.

Lexi returned them to normal with the snap of the finger: Zant was a twili again, and Zelda was in her normal get-up: much to their great relief.

"That aside." Zelda turned to the spirit of the writer. "Why are you being punished?"

"Actually, I didn't catch that either." HolyMaiden24 raised her head up in curiosity. "Why am I stuck in this bottle again?"

"Your charges as a fan fic writer include as follows." Darkrai pulled out a list and began to read. "Showing favoritism, rude accusation to readers from a past hiatus message, skimming over parts of the game, lack of proper editing-

"Sadly, I can admit to that."

"-Unable to resist 'crack shipping' urges which were transferred into a one-shot, with writing that is close to matching poorly written romance-"

HolyMaiden24 took in a sharp breath of air and bit her lip. "That... too." She cringed.

"Making characters who should be villains in their respective games too 'cuddly,' using too many references, lots of unnecessary angst, shamelessly-"

"Wait a minute!" HolyMaiden24 stopped him. "What was that again?"

"Unnecessary angst." Darkrai repeated.

HolyMaiden24 began to think for a moment. "Angst." She repeated to herself. "Angst...angst." Her eyes began to darken and she hissed. "Oh... fricken fab-tabulous."

She suddenly stood up and angrily yelled. "IT WAS _YOU_, WASN'T IT?! GET OUT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"

To everyone else's shock, there was burst of light and someone appeared.

...Actually, it was more like three someones.

"You three did this!" HolyMaiden glared.

"Hello again, HolyMaiden24." Nayru awkwardly waved as Din and Farore grimaced at the quick deduction.

"Why are you still ruining this series, when I told you to leave it alone?!" She snarled. "You almost did serious damage, last time!"

"You gave one of your reader's permission to use us, back in Skyward Swaps!" Din snapped back.

"And you replaced us with a boomerang!" Farore pointed to Lexi. "A BOOMERANG!"

"Technically, I'm the fairy of winds." Lexi retorted.

"What's going on here?" Zelda quietly asked Lexi as she and Zant watched in confusion.

"I don't know." Lexi shrugged. "But those are supposed to be the ones I replaced, from the last fan fic in this series."

"Hi there, mortals!" Din waved at them. "We are the goddesses of Hyrule!"

"Please tell me you're joking." Zelda felt a headache coming: to think that these were the legendary triad of Hyrule was not pleasant in the least. "You cannot be the same three who created Hyrule and bestowed the Triforce onto this land."

"Which we gave to our brother, before that whole thing with Demise." Nayru added.

-sometime ago-

"_Ok, here you go." Din dropped the Triforce in Hylia's reluctant hands. "Be a good baby brother and watch over that, you hear!"_

"_Wait a moment!" Hylia was now confused he held the three triangles. "What do I do with it? And for how long? And what if someone evil want's to lay claim upon it?"_

"_Beats us." She shrugged as they disappeared. "We got a lot of TV show catching up to do. Walking Dead, here we come!"_

-present-

"Eh, that's up to you." Farore shrugged. "You can pretend we _are _the actual Goddesses, fakes, or just super powerful beings who have similar names."

"You three are so petty." HolyMaiden24 grew annoyed. "Petty to the point that you subjected me to torture!"

"Uh, about that." Lexi grimaced, as the writer turned her gaze to the boomerang spirit. "They did more than that. They dropped the moon from Majora's Mask on your head. Right, now, your a spirit bottled up like a poe- which is actually pretty ironic, from a certain viewpoint." She chuckled.

HolyMaiden24 was puzzled. "What do you-"

With the snap of her fingers, Lexi made HolyMaiden24's headless corpse flop in front of the bottle.

"Yeah... uh... I doubt the song of time will fix this one for you. Sorry?"

HolyMaiden24 quietly stared at the body for almost a good whole minute while trying to comprehend what she saw and what she knew.

HolyMaiden24 ran a hand over her face. "You know what?... I give up."

"Excuse me?" Nayru asked. "You're not going to rage at us?"

"You killed me. That's how far you went for petty revenge." HolyMaiden24 continued on. "You're the only ones who can bring me back to life- seeing as you have that power- but I know you wont give it up that easily. So, there's only one thing left: I told Lexi that she couldn't do this unless she had to, since it's not in my power at the moment."

"You mean-?!" Lexi's eyes began to shine in excitement.

"Yes Lexi." HolyMaiden24 confirmed. "I'm going to make the biggest gamble I've ever done in my time as a fan fic writer to date, from beyond the grave. Commence Operation 'Thank You' on these three."

"What's Operation 'Thank You'?" Farore demanded as the three became nervous at the sound of those words. It sounded a lot more evil than the last threat HolyMaiden24 made to them, and that was saying something. Instead, Lexi grinned like a six year old kid at DisneyLand or Universal Studios and snapped her fingers.

A powerful light came forth, nearly blinding everyone in the processes due to it's sheer overwhelming brightness. Even the Goddesses were forced to shield their eyes until it finally settled, to reveal the secret of Operation 'Thank You.'

It was a vast rugged plain of earth that was devoid of all plant life, and stormy gray skies. There were also mountains looming nearby, as well as a body of water, but the biggest trait of this dimension imaginable was exactly what was right behind Lexi, Zelda, and Zant.

"Hey y'all!" HolyMaiden24 happily waved from her jar, and the trio turned around to see the reason for her waving at what was behind them. Zelda's jaw almost dropped, as Lexi squealed like a hopeless shipper.

It was an enormous crowd of people. Like, a really enormous crowd of people. They all varied in appearance, but it was clear that they were all here for a reason, to which the writer happily explained it.

"These are the collective number of readers of both the Skyward Swaps and Twilight Twists fanfictions. They have enjoyed my fan fics, and I owe it to them for giving me the motivation for going on with writing them. Because of your interference, you left me no choice but to commit the biggest 'Jump the Shark' moment I could possibly manage."

She turned to them with a grin on her face. "So then- who wants to kick some butt?!"

"WE DO!" A collective voice roared out. All the readers- in their preferred forms and avatars- eagerly took out their weapons, sent out their pokemon, got their magic revved up and ready, got their Avatar elemental bending abilities ready, their Portal guns were out, their Team Fortress 2 class abilities were about to be put to good use, lightsabers shot out- you get the idea. Everyone was about to fulfill their deepest fantasy.

I mean, heck! YOU were there too!

"You have _got_ to be kidding us!" Din angrily looked at HolyMaiden24.

"I think I'm going to enjoy this." Zant confessed as Zelda took out the Master Sword. "A massive battle is a glorious way to get one's blood flowing."

"WE LOVE YOU ZANT!" One of the readers cried out. "YOUR AWESOME!" Another roared out.

"I'm _really_ going to enjoy this!" Zant grinned as those cheers made him more motivated than ever.

"And check this out!" There was a burst of blue light and Lexi suddenly turned into a Fierce Deity version of herself, complete with a huge boomerang that was styled like the helix sword and almost twice as big as she was.

"I got the Fierce Deity's mask from one of the readers!" She waved at that specific reader. "THANK YOU TJFANFICS99!"

"NOW LET'S KICK SOME DIVINE BUTT!" Lexi then roared. "CHARGE!"

As for the fight... well... you were there, and you knew just how epic it was.

-one epic fight later-

"Ok! We give up!" A very bruised and tired Din held her hands up in surrender as she and her sisters were surrounded by the group of pumped up and still eager to fight readers. Oh, and Lexi, Zant, and Zelda.

"Now bring HolyMaiden24 back to life, so she can continue with Twilight Twists!" One of the readers demanded.

"YES!" They all simultaneously roared.

"FINE! YOU WIN!" Farore groaned as she nursed a black eye. "You can have her back."

HolyMaiden24's body suddenly regained it's head- more like it popped back out- and they all watched as her soul disappeared. HolyMaiden24 then awoke and stood back up.

"Oh man alive, does that feel good!" She was very happy about being alive again, while ignoring the fact that her body had been headless just seconds ago. "Thank you guys!" She waved at the winning side.

"I think we've done enough." Nayru gave up. "Considering things, you'll be doing something a lot more stupid if we invade this realm ever again."

And with that, the Goddesses vanished.

As HolyMaiden24 let out a relived sigh, Darkrai (who chose to stay out of the fight, but was stuck in this dimension the entire time) approached her. "I am sorry for my actions in this mix-up." He apologized.

"Don't be!" HolyMaiden24 smiled at him. "And you're actually a pretty cool person, once someone get's to know you. Now then," She turned to the large group. "WHO WANT'S TO PARTY IN HYRULE CASTLE TOWN?!"

And what a party it was that night!

It was a glorious night: all the readers were partying like crazy at Telma's bar, but they had to move it outside, since there were too many of them! It was a night where the Chateau Romani flowed like the Zora's River into many a person's system and everyone went nuts on the town! Friends were made and Purlo raked in lots of Rupees from readers who were eager to make revenge upon him later, as well as on that one guy with the expensive store. There was also lots of singing a capella to certain video game and tv show music, to the point that it was like being at a rock concert!

For some reason, a lot of the readers kept approaching Zelda and wanted to hold the Master Sword for a second. Some went up to it and yelled at it for being a pain in the ass of a boss or, oddly enough, professed their adoration to it.

Later, Zant and Lexi were spinning like crazy to that "You spin me right round, baby right round" song, which gradually sped up overtime, and everyone took bets to see who would last the longest before they fell flat on their faces.

Zant won.

"HAIL TO YOUR KING!" He roared, and the readers who were major fans of him were more than willing to obey, and carried him off when he did the crowd surfing thing with them.

-one night of Chateau Romani drinking, pokemon battling, rant making, bet taking, shipping wars, breaking and entering, public property damage, public disturbance, attempts at paring Shad with Ashei, attempts at pairing Shad with Zelda, attempts at pairing Ashei with Zelda, Zant worshipping, calling out that one doctor guy for being racist and wrecking his office, partying with Agitha, multiple attempts at breaking down the barrier, in game speculation, and just having a good time later-

The next morning all of the town and parts of Hyrule were a complete wreck- let's just say that a lot of pots were smashed the previous night.

"I'm really sorry for all you guys went through." HolyMaiden24 apologized to Zelda and Zant. "So I'm going to erase your memory and send you back in time. Hey, does anyone know how to play the song of time on the ocarina?"

And so one of the more musically talented readers was lucky enough to play the "borrowed" Ocarina of TIme and fix that problem. HolyMaiden24 then sent everyone back home (including Darkrai, who was dragged into the party, but enjoyed himself anyway). Lexi then remembered her escapades from earlier, and those had to be fixed to, before things could return to normal.

"And now it's time to go back to work." HolyMaiden24 sighed.

...Or at least she would of, had she not felt a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Actually, you do have one more charge, before you are allowed to continue. For your failure to show proper appreciation and giving an inadequate response to one of your readers, you will have to suffer the proper punishment. The water temple will look like a simple 10 piece jigsaw puzzle, the Silent Realm from Skyward Sword will look like Disneyland, Tingle's charges will seem like a laughable sum of one rupee, redead's will seem like your best friends, Ganon will look like a cute piglet, and all the songs you were forced to hear will seem like lullabies, compared to what's coming for you."

HolyMaiden24 hung her head in shame.

* * *

><p>Note by HolyMaiden24: I wanted to pay tribute to Robin Williams for the longest time, but never got around to it. This is my way of doing that, while reminding people why it's not nice to cyber-bully others (considering what I heard, anyway.))... and I'm sorry if I have ever offended anyone in the past.<p>

Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pokemon, Spider-Man Portal guns, Slender Man, Ben Drowned, Team Fortress 2, lightsabers, Avatar: the Last Air Bender, and a whole bunch of other recognizable stuff belong to their respective owners.

DisneyLand and Universal Studios belong to their respective owners... though, considering the whole measles thing from Disneyland... sorry about that.

You're Beautiful, Bathing Beauties (most regrettably) and whatever other songs were mentioned belong to their respective owners. Speaking of which, the Final Fantasy 9 song is either titled the final battle or Necron's theme. If you start hearing the moaning, then you found the right one... and to think Dark Messenger (one of the most awesome boss fight music pieces of all time) came right before it.

Basically, almost _everything_ in this chapter belongs to someone, and there is too many to list.

No writers or readers were harmed in real life in the making of this chapter... or the one before it, where she got killed off.


	10. Snowy Love

I'm happy that everyone enjoyed that last chapter. I was worried that it wouldn't be too well received, for certain reasons. Now, I've responded to some of you though private messaging, but I'll go ahead and respond some more.

Tjfanfics99: I already responded, but I can't wait to see that picture of Lexi. I bet it's going to be awesome.

HeroAlexa249: I also responded to you, but I'll go ahead and continue: wish I could party with the Zelda characters more too! Maybe in the next addition to the series, I'll do another one, since I pushed myself on this one to it's limits with that chapter. (especially if it ends up being Hyrule Warriors.)

Ayako Zetra: They STILL found out about what was going to happen, and were not happy about it. And they killed me off for it! I'm pretty sure it would have been pretty cool, whatever you had in mind. :)

LOL! YES! All the pots we can smash to our heart's content! Lexi's still tearing up those property damage charges, to hide the evidence of it ever happening.

ThePastReliesOnMemories: I already responded to you too, in private, but if you are reading this... I don't know what else I can say, after saying sorry so many times. No matter what happens, I wish the best for you, even if you choose to stop reading this fan fic because of what I did.

PsychoFangirl: funny you should say that...

-some time between chapters-

The five sages stood around and waited in the Mirror Chamber for the reappearance of the hero and her eccentric companion.

"_Brother, are you sure they didn't just use the twilight to transport out of here_?" The Sage of Forest asked the Sage of Light.

"_I doubt it_." He responded. "_We saw that the world suddenly turned dark without warning. It's possible that there was a connection but-_"

There was a shimmering sound that was mixed with the unfortunate juvenile sound of something akin to a fart, and three bodies dropped one by one from the sky. The first two were unconscious, but the other one remained perfectly sitting cross legged over the others and was gradually burning sheets of paper.

"Need to burn your charges, need to burn your charges, need to burn your charges," Lexi lit each piece of paper on fire with aid of the magical ball of fire in front of her. "Need to burn- whoa!" She stared bugged eyed at one paper in particular. "HOW many castle pots did Ayako Zetra break?! I know most of the charges were for breaking pots but JEEZ! Good thing we took advantage of time travel, right?!" She laughed as she patted Zelda's head before looking up to see the sages.

"...Uh, this never happened. OK?" She then tossed it into the fire before finding a photo.

"Oh, that's me with HeroAlexa24 and PsychoFangirl!" She made a squealing sound of joy.

-present-

And there you have it! :)

Here comes the chapter some of you were looking forward to, considering how well known the boss fight is, though I don't know if I gave it proper justice. (P.S. The intro didn't scare me, due to spoilers, but it was still unsettling.) Also... other than a few things, it's not too exciting.

Chapter 9: Snow Love

* * *

><p>A seething Midna hovered down a corridor, while the twins nervously trailed behind her. Daphne's snake, Draco, remained curled around his mistress's arm and glared at the back of the Imp, while Demi- the only bug loyal enough to Ariadne to stay by her side while the other's flew off- stayed on Ariadne's shoulder. The two twili glanced at each other- just what had happened to Midna, and what would be the consequence of it?<p>

They approached the end of the corridor and entered through a room that lead to the balcony, where the monarch of the Twilight realm could publicly address their people. Midna had no intention of being seen, and stopped just before she could be in plain sight, while the twins halted from a safe distance.

Midna then created a black orb of magic and held it up to her mouth. When she spoke into it, her voice became amplified and it echoed out for all to hear.

"Citizens of the Twilight realm!" She spoke into it in a voice that was unable to contain her anger, yet still held a dignity to it. "There is a traitor to the crown that has consorted with the world of light, who will bring danger to our world! You know this traitor by the name of Zant!"

Ariadne and Daphne gasped in shock and shot each other a terrified glance.

"The link between our world and theirs is temporarily sealed off, so that we may have time to prepare for the inevitable! It should be known that Zant is currently being accompanied by a sword carrying light dweller who can turn into a wolf and who goes by the name of Zelda! Should either of them be found, they will be brought to me, and I will personally execute them for the crimes they have committed!"

With the flick of her hand, the orb snapped and disappeared.

"You can't!" Daphne protested. "You can't kill Zant! This isn't right! A ruler should give a fair trail!"

"Please don't do this, Your Highness!" Ariadne added.

"I am protecting our kingdom!" Midna angrily spun around. "We were banished to this realm by the light dwellers, and their rejected and condemned mixed their blood with ours!" Midna jabbed a finger at her eyes. "I carry that proof with me!"

"We can't let you do this." Daphne growled and held a hand out as a ball of red and black energy formed, and turned into a chain whip, while Ariadne also formed a similar energy, which turned into a dark shield- similar to the hard shell of an insect- with spikes on all ends.

Midna looked between the two of them, and she was impressed before she realized something. "I see now." She let out a snort of disbelief. "I should have seen this, from you two, of all people."

She held a hand up and a dark energy came out of it. Immediately, the twins faces became twisted with pain and they cringed away from Midna.

"Wh-what's happening?!" Daphne gasped and grabbed her head. "My head!" Ariadne cried out. "It- it-" Her own sentence was cut short by her own scream as she, her twin, and their loyal companions turned black.

Midna quietly watched as the girls shapes grew and became distorted until they changed into something similar to the shadow beasts. The circular helmets covered their faces, and Draco had become entwined with Daphne's arm and whip, which had fused together into some grotesque tentacle. As for Ariadne, her beloved Demi had been fused to the girl's shield- certain extended spikes on the shield twitched every few seconds, indicating that it was only partially sentient. The chances that the shield was fused to what was left of Ariadne were highly likely.

It was a grotesque sight, and it made Midna fell a twinge of guilt for what she did.

"I'm sorry Ariadne... Daphne." She bowed her head. "I didn't want to..."

She retreated to her chambers while her new shadow beasts lumbered after her- Daphne's 'arm' dragging on the floor the whole way through.

Midna never lifted her head the entire time, and not even when she finally sat down at her vanity when she entered her chambers.

"_I see you still have a soft spot in your heart, Midna."_ A voice she knew all too well spoke from the darkness.

"That gave me no pleasure." She softly spoke before she looked up to see herself in the mirror. She growled at the change of her appearance- she looked distorted and her eyes were like saucers in this form. "It's going to take me three days to undo this curse." She growled before yelling. "I'm going to kill that insect, and that lap dog of his!"

Midna let out a furious roar as her hair turned into a fist and slammed into the mirror, creating a pattern of cracks that further distorted her reflection.

-Zelda's POV-

I figured that one of the locations the sages told us was in Snowpeak, so I decided to take a look. I had never been to that region before, but I heard stories that winter would last for so long that there would only be three months without any snow up there.

"It's so cold." I shivered and rubbed by arms as I walked through the cave, towards Snowpeak. I didn't realize just how cold it would be, and I mentally slapped myself for not preparing for this in advance.

"How is it that the Zora's domain hasn't been affected by this climate change so badly?" Zant demanded. "It made sense when it was frozen over, but this is ridiculous."

I was unable to answer that when I saw that I wasn't alone. A person garbed in white fur looked out at a frozen lake in the region ahead of us. Or at least they were trying to, but it was so foggy out there, that you couldn't see much.

They sensed our presence and turned around, revealing that they wore a mask with white fur.

"Hey... You're Zelda, yeah?"

"Ashei?" I asked as the person took the hat off and held it at their shoulder, revealing the member of the resistance.

"Good to see you." She grunted. "Anyway... What are you doing in a dangerous place like this?"

"I need to find something that can save the kingdom, and a part of it might be here." I answered.

"You know, ever since Zora's Domain got covered in ice, this mountain's been much colder than usual, yeah?" Ashei asked. "Not only that, but I heard a really weird story from the Zoras."

She told me that a beast that lived on this mountain had been seen frequently at the Domain. She waited and eventually saw the creature, which she made a sketch of.

"This is pretty amazing!" I was impressed at Ashei's drawing skills.

"Apparently, this thing's been stealing red fish from the village." She added. "I went to investigate further... but I can't even see a path though this blizzard, yeah?"

When I conducted a quick investigation, I learned from a Zora that Prince Ralis knew how to catch a similar fish, and was highly skilled at it. I knew where I had to go next, seeing as I know knew how to find the yeti.

-Kakariko Village-

When we returned to Kakariko Village, I began to look for Ralis. I didn't imediately find him, and I returned to the inn, I found Colin instead.

"Zelda!" He smiled as I entered. "It's good to see you again!"

I smiled. "Same here... how is Ilia?" I wondered if her memory returned, and Colin frowned. "She hasn't recovered it yet." He sat down on the bed and hung his head. "She doesn't even remember me."

I sat down next to the bed, beside him. "I hate it. It's not fair that she had to lose her memory." Colin bowed his head. "What if she never recovers?"

I placed an arm around him. "We can't force it, at the moment." I tried to console him. "If anything, we need to have a little faith."

I then smiled at him. "I've done so much on my journey. I wish I could tell you all about it."

"Why not? We have time to kill." We both looked up to see Zant standing right in front of us. "Seeing as 'you-know-who' is currently at the short end of the stick, if you pardon the expression."

"Zant?!" I was surprised as Colin gasped. "Why are you-"

"I have nothing to worry about." Zant told me, before turning to Colin. "Though I was wanting to meet the young Master Colin, whom I've heard so much about."

"Zelda, who is this?" Colin kept a nervous eye on Zant, who did seem sinister (and he was currently unmasked), and I couldn't blame him for that.

"Colin, this is Zant." I began. "We have been working together to save Hyrule. It was with his help that I was able to find you and the others."

Zant placed an arm over his chest and respectfully bowed. "It is true." He confirmed. "And you are a remarkable young man, who has been through far more in your short years than most others have."

Colin slightly relaxed, and it was at that moment, I realized something that he would like to see the most. "I know that it would take some time to explain to explain everything." I began. "But do you remember the legend of the Master Sword?" I pulled the blade out of it's scabbard and gently held it out in both hands for Colin to see.

He immediately recognized it from it's design and gasped. "Is it really-?"

"It is." I smiled.

"But it can only be held by the hand of someone who is noble of heart, in a time when Hyrule is in trouble!"

"Your sister proved herself worthy of holding that sword." Zant confirmed. "Your land is in trouble, though it needs her to bring the light back. She is as brave as she is wise."

Colin stared in awe at the blade before looking at me with a smile. "She is." He agreed.

I held it towards him. "It's not everyday that one gets to hold the Master Sword." I offered, though I had the strangest sense of worry that it would possibly reject him, and I had no idea where that thought came from. Despite my concerns, Colin carefully placed his hands under it and carefully picked it up from my hands.

He continued to gaze at it in admiration as well as shock. "I can't believe I'm holding the Master Sword." He then grabbed onto the handle and held the blade skyward. In that moment, he looked like a hero, and it was a cute sight to behold, but he now carried himself with a confident air that was needed to make the image complete.

"I'm surprised myself." Zant admitted. "I tried to touch it once, when she wasn't looking, and it burned my hand and rejected me!"

"This sword carries down so many legends." Colin was breathless as he remembered it's significance and carefully rested a hand on the sharp blade. "And since you are it's wielder, you're going to be a legend too."

I chuckled. "That's going to be quite the expectation, but since you are holding it, you're going to be a part of my legend too."

Colin smiled as he gave me back the Master Sword.

-later-

I left Colin alone with Zant, since he was genuinely curious about my brother. After some searching, I found Ralis at his mother's grave.

"Is... Is your name Zelda?" He eagerly asked.

"I am." I replied with a smile. "I'm pleased to see that you are well."

"My mother came to me in a dream... She showed me your image. She spoke of a youth who would save our domain and steer my fate. One named Zelda.

"I must thank you for all you've done. If there is anything I can ever do for you, please tell me."

"Actually, there is." I pulled out Ashei's sketches, and the boy seemed to recognize them.

"The beast-man of the snowy mountain... perhaps? But more important is this red fish it is holding. It must be a reekfish- it's found in our domain, but it feeds on a valuable type of coral, and without that bait, even our best fishers cannot catch one." He then moved his hands to an ear and removed a lovely hook shaped earring. "This earring is made of that same coral. I would like to give it to you."

As I admired the hook, Ralis continued. "My mother gave that to me... but it's fine, I no longer need it. As I look at you, I get a sense of what my mother wanted, what I should be doing now..."

I then recalled Rutela's final request. I was glad that I remembered the message- I had to tell him, before I forgot it all together.

"Your mother passed a message to me for you." I told him. "That you must must not grieve her passing. She wanted you to be brave and live on as the king of your people." I smiled. "And that she loves you without end..."

Ralis was quiet at my words and gazed at the water.

"...I will return to my village." He spoke. "Also, the reekfish can be found near the Mother-and-Child Rocks in the waterfall basin near my village."

"Thank you." I replied.

"No...It is I who should be thanking you. I will never forget your kindness."

-later again-

"I take it that you told the boy the message his mother wanted him to receive?" Zant asked as we waited for the fish to bite at the domain. I had with me a poncho and a scarf, for the cold journey ahead.

"I did." I smiled. "I'm glad I was able to remember it."

"I took the liberty of writing it down, just to be safe." He confessed. "But I suppose it was not a concern."

"You know, I don't get it." I raised my eyebrow. "You don't seem to be someone who would care for children so much, and yet you played pretend for Agitha, and wanted to speak with Colin."

"I admit that I am not fond of children- especially considering my childhood." Zant admitted. "But there have been few exceptions in my life. Two of them just so happen to be my cousins, who I've known since they were born."

That took me by surprise. "That's the first I-" At that moment, I felt a tugging at my fishing pole and I quickly pulled the unfortunate swimmer out of the water.

"Oh sweet Nayru!" I scrunched my face up and flinched away as a foul scent of the fish hit my nose. "That is horrid!"

"And I'm in your shadow, away from it. So take a sniff, Lady Wolf, for we need that scent."

Once I swallowed my pride and sniffed the foul beast, I had Zant give me the black hooded poncho and purple scarf, before I could brave the blizzard as a human.

My poor nose was attacked by the trail of the reekfish as I trailed up snowpeak in wolf form. I was given brief breaks from it when I needed to be a hylian, and when I found the howling statue. Of course, we met more shadow beasts, but because I was feeling too ill to take care of them and watched without flinching as Zant took care of them. At this point, his erratic fighting style didn't phase me anymore, and I let him enjoy himself, even if it possibly meant genocide. Even though I hoped that wasn't the case, I pretty much gave up on questioning right from wrong, or logic itself by that point, after having my nose damaged by the scented trail of reekfish.

When I finally found the beast by a tree with frozen leaves, I was able to completely revert back to a hylian and I hoped that I would never have to smell another reekfish in my life ever again.

"UH! WHOA-HO!" The yeti- who was huge, and wore a horse saddle for a hat and had a huge fish in his hands- was startled to see me. "I HEAR RUCKUS, AND UH! JUST A HUMAN!" And apparently, he spoke loudly.

"I SEE HUMANS NOT OFTEN, UH? WHY HUMAN COME TO SNOWS? YOU... ON SPIRITUAL JOURNEY? YOU LOOK FOR TRUE SELF?"

"Uh..." I raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

He let out a thundering laugh "THEN YOU LOOK FOR LONG TIME, UH!...THAT WAS JOKE. YETIS JOKE TOO, UH."

Zant found this funny and began to laugh as the Yeti continued on.

"YOU LOOK FOR SOMETHING ELSE, UH? TELL TRUTH."

"As a matter a fact, I am." I replied before I explained what it was.

"...UH. YOU LOOK FOR MIRROR IN SUCH FARAWAY PLACE." He was impressed. "UH UH UH UH UH! WHY YOU NOT SAY SO BEFORE? BUT YOU MAKE GOOD CLIMB! AND YOU LUCKY TO MEET ME! I FOUND SHINY MIRROR PIECE!" He explained. "SAME MIRROR YOU LOOK FOR, UH?"

"I could take a look." I shrugged. "That is, if you don't mind."

"NO, UH! YOU COME TO HOUSE AND SEE YOURSELF!" He then held his fish up. "I CAUGHT FISH. I MAKE YOU HOT MEAL, AT LEAST..."

"That would be lovely." I smiled as I rubbed my arms for warmth. It was a lot colder than I thought it would be, and the offer for a nice meal was highly appealing. "Thank you... uh, I don't think I caught your name, Mr..."

"YETO!" He happily bellowed out his name. "AND NAME OF NEW FRIEND?!"

"Zelda."

"MY HOUSE FAR AWAY, ZELDA." Yeto continued. "WE SLIDE THERE, UH? DO LIKE ME! COME!" He then turned and punched the tree, causing a frozen leaf to fall off. He put one foot onto it and then slid down the mountain with the fish still in his hands. I watched as he leapt over a crevice, before continuing on his frozen leaf.

"That took good coordination." Zant noted as I rammed myself into the tree and knocked a leaf off. I got on, kicked at the ground to get going, and then slid down the mountain, and repeated what Yeto did.

It was possibly one of the best things I had ever done on my journey. I had no idea that sliding down the mountain on the ice leaf would be so much fun, not to mention scenic. In fact, the ride took me all the way to a breathtaking manor, hidden in the mountains. I was a little sad when I reached the entrance and the leaf shattered, but I was also cold and wanted warmth after feeling the wind rushing against my face.

"Our friend has quite the taste in housing." Zant complimented as I ran up the stairs and into the manor.

I was surprised- the place looked rather run down, and there was an awful lot of debris and ruins in the lobby, and the ceiling had a large hole in it, allowing a frozen floor of ice to form on the ground.

"Then again, he isn't too keen on fixing it up." Zant decided. "If he ever wished to sell it, it would grant him a fortune if he bothered to do so."

I entered through a set of double doors, while a warm fire burned in a fire place, and a figure was haunched beside it, against a couch

"...Who?" A quiet voice spoke as a female yeti (who looked a lot smaller than Yeto) turned her head to face me.

"Sorry... I have sickness, uh..." She apologized. "Come closer, uh?"

I walked towards the fireplace and plopped in front of it. As I reached my hands towards it, I felt a warmth return to my body. "I hope you don't mind." I apologized. "It's really cold outside, and I'm not used to such temperatures, being from the southern outskirts of Hyrule and all."

"Husband told me you come." She smiled, despite looking rather sickly. "You want to look at mirror, uh?"

"Oh!" I smiled. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Zelda- it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeta." She softly replied. "Husband found mirror. It pretty thing. But... since I get mirror, I get sick, and then bad monsters appear.. So many bad things happen since mirror... So we look bedroom on third floor where it hangs, uh?

"Wait, I tell you where key is." She warned me that the fever made her head blurry, but she pointed out where to find the key on the map. On the condition that I would bring the key to her.

"Well, this should be rather straight forward." Zant spoke to me from my shadow. However, I wanted food, and I headed to the kitchen, where Yeto was preparing a soup for Yeta.

"Thank you for allowing me into your home." I spoke as I drank a nice broth that warmed me up. "I hope your wife get's better."

"I MAKE SOUP FOR HER." Yeto sounded optimistic, despite the concern in his eyes. "FISH FROM ZORA VILLAGE ARE MOST NUTRITIOUS!"

I had drunk the broth half way when I heard this and almost choked on it: I had just drank the thing that I had sworn NEVER to smell ever again.

"If it makes you feel better, it doesn't smell too horrible." Zant spoke.

"...Thank you for the soup." I set the bowl aside. "I'll go find that mirror now."

"Personally," Zant said as I left the chamber and into another room. "I consider this poetic justice."

"For what?" I asked. "What does this justify?"

-earlier-

"Come on, come on!" I begged as I tried to reel in the fish that bite the hook of my fishing pole. "Please be the right kind of fish this time! Please be a hylian loach!"

"Um, I don't think it's the right season for those." Hena told me from the other end of the boat.

-present-

"Do you have any idea how long we were at that pond?! I thought you were focused, but it took one fishing pond to make me think twice about that!"

One argument later, I commenced my search and found myself wondering about the manor. The yetis clearly weren't the first owners, and it looked to be several decades old, if not centuries. Unfortunately, it was freezing cold, and I wanted to get this over with- although I had experience with snow, growing up, I hadn't experienced temperatures like this. I was more than happy when I finally found the chest, and hoped that I could leave as soon as possible. A night at the hot springs in Kakariko Village later sounded highly appealing.

"Looks like we'll be done in no time flat." I grinned as I opened the chest. "And now for the..." My face fell.

"What? What is it?" Zant asked.

I took the item from the chest and showed it. "It's a..."

We were both silent as we tried to comprehend what we found.

"...Pumpkin."

Zant laughed at this. "I have to admit, this is pretty funny."

So, I had to go back to Yeta.

"Uh... I found a pumpkin in the chest." I explained.

So Yeta tried to rack her brain, before marking down a different room, and advised me to give the pumpkin to Yeto.

Yeto's idea of getting the pumpkin involved roughly shoving me to the floor, for some reason. Other than that, the pumpkin's taste improved the soup, which no longer seemed as fishy. And getting to fire off the cannons at debris was fun. I even had a laugh as I shot one into the ice monster in front of a door.

"I suspect you are trying to make the most of this situation." You-know-who noted.

At one point, my journey took me into a narrow chamber, with statues inside and nothing else... and when I tried to leave, a gate closed over the entrance.

And that's when I heard he sound of clanking metal, and instinct told me to duck, just as something destroyed the suit of amour behind me to pieces. That something being a monster covered in armor, with a heavy looking ball and chain.

"I hate my life." I sighed as I looked for a way to defeat him.

One aggravating battle later, I outsmarted the beast, who upon defeat, left behind his weapon, which almost smashed into me. Fortunately, the gates opened up, and I was free to go.

"I think you should take his weapon." Zant stopped me before I could leave.

"The same thing that would require me to be as strong as that beast?" I snorted. "Unlikely."

"It could come in handy. Also, try these." Zant held a hand out and a pair of silver gauntlets appeared on my arms. "Lets just say I borrowed a few things from Hyrule Castle before I met you, and leave it at that."

Deciding to rumor Zant, I picked the weapon up and I tried to give it a spin. The ball was heavy, even with the gauntlets on, and after I tossed it, I pulled it back and it almost knocked me over.

"So cumbersome." I sighed. Of course, it was a lot of help and destroyed many obstacles in my way, and I almost felt invincible because of it.

Later, I was able to find the next chest and-

"A hunk of cheese that somehow isn't a block of ice." I sighed. "Lovely."

Deja vu settled in with the Yetis. Yeta gave me another location, and I was knocked to the floor by Yeto- although, the soup was a lot tastier, and even Zant stole a sample when I gave my compliments to the bigger yeti.

After one more trek through the manor and a brawl in the chapel, we found the next chest.

"This better be it." I grumbled as I reached for the chest. "It's cold and I-"

"Wait a minute." Zant interrupted. "Suppose it is a food item again?"

"It better not be."

"But what if it's... I don't know, a pomegranate?"

"...I suppose if it's eggs, they could make a soufflé."

"It's too cold. It would have to be a quiche."

"And if it's not eggs, it could just be a sack of flour."

"_And then we could have a pumpkin pizza!" (_Apparently Lexi was listening in on us.)

"Well, here goes nothing." I opened the chest, closed my eyes and reached in. My hands touched metal and I quickly pulled it up.

"Finally!" I let out a sigh in relief as I held up a heart shaped key.

"I concur." Zant agreed. "But why is the bedroom key shaped like a heart?"

"Who cares?" I shrugged. "I'm tired of the cold."

When I went outside, I was greeted by Yeta, of all people.

"Oh! You safe, uh!" She sounded a lot more healthier. "I drink husband's soup, feel much better, uh. So I come find you. You found key, uh!" She beamed when she saw the key in my hand. "Good! Good! Bedroom right above us. I take you there, uh. You go ahead. No worry for me, uh?"

I went ahead and opened the heart shaped lock.

"The lock is also heart shaped." Zant noticed with slight annoyance. "Please tell me this isn't going to be the kind of room I think it is."

"Maybe Yeto let her pick the lock to their bedroom." I shrugged.

To his relief, it was just a normal looking bedroom. I didn't know what kind of room he was thinking about, but I didn't want to ask him. It didn't take long for Yeta to join us, and by then, Zant had listed a number of gruesome ways to kill off an enemy, if I felt creative enough. I could sense that he also wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Please.. this way, uh." Yeta waddled across the room and I followed her to a familiar looking object hanging from the wall.

"That's it!" Zant was excited at the mirror shard. "We can take it and leave this place behind!"

"Here... mirror. You look at it, uh..." Yeta told me. "Uh... So pretty.." She then gazed at it... or, it seemed to be that she was gazing at herself. "Pretty... Uh... So pretty..."

Suddenly, she began to twitch, and her voice took on a crackling quality. "Pretty... Pretty... Mirror... lovely."

"Yeta?!" I gasped as her body began to darken. I felt a chill pass through me as she continued to twitch, until she turned to face me.

Without warning, her head seemed to spin, and the quiet, yet humble face of Yeta changed to that of a fanged and red eyed creature.

"NOT TAKE MIRROR!" She shrieked and I stumbled back, out of shock at the change from the sweet yeti to the beast in front of me.

I heard the sound of glass breaking- the windows high above us shattered, allowing the freezing air to pour in and it surrounded Yeta. As everything turned cold, and my breath began to turn into a fog, Yeta slowly became encased in an icy barrier and was sent up into the air. I watched in horror as the room turned into a frozen, treacherous trap, and a block of ice with elegant carvings slammed down onto the floor.

"What happened?" I shivered.

"She's been corrupted by the darkness of the mirror." Zant warned. "I'm sorry, but you have to defeat her, to free her from the spell. Use the new weapon- I doubt that sword will be of any use."

"I don't want to hurt her!" I protested, but the icy block slowly approached me. Unfortunately, I knew from the depths of my heart that I really had no choice, and brought out the ball and chain. Each time I smashed it, it changed it's shape and it's speed increased, as I dreaded the moment I had to actually hit what was inside, even as it produced blocks of ice that were sent in every direction.

I hit it enough times to reveal Yeta, but she wasn't done yet. She went into the air and, with another cry, she became enclosed in some sort of icy display, as if she were a doll, surrounded by icy turret like spikes.

To make matters worse, the room became even more cold. My hands were already stiff, but they were starting to feel numb as well as my face, and my body temperature was slowly losing it's warmth.

"Zant," I shivered as Yeta rose high above us. "I might need your eyes... I don't think I can last if it keeps getting colder."

"Stay strong my Lady Wolf." He encouraged. "When I say run, run."

I didn't have to worry too much when my eyes fell to the ground: I could see the spikes twirling after me in the reflection of the ice and I ran as soon as they came straight towards me.

"Destroy them!" Zant cautioned. I pulled out the ball and chain and obeyed his command. It turned out that this was good advice, because the display crashed in the middle of the circle that the spikes formed, allowing me to destroy it.

It was quite a fight, but it kept getting colder and colder, as what was left of Yeta screamed at me in anger and I was losing all feeling in my fingers, which barely manage to hold onto the chain and the ball and chain was becoming as dangerous as Yeta herself, if I wasn't careful enough.

By the time I sent the final toss, I thought that I would lose my will and collapse. Even when Yeta was slammed against the wall and let out one final cry before what was left of the ice fell to the ground, I could barely stay awake.

I watched as the remains of the ice turned into the mirror shard, and the room returned to normal. I lost my footing and would have collapsed to the ground, had an arm not suddenly shot under one of my arms and pinned me against something solid.

"You did well, Lady Wolf." Zant took the shard with his free hand as my eyes drifted to the collapsed form of Yeta.

"Y-yeta." I was still shivering, despite the change in temperature, and yet my heart was out for the poor woman.

"It's a shame that we had to do that to her." My companion agreed. "To think the Mirror could change people... it must have preyed upon the darkness in her heart. Even a pure soul can be diluted by an ounce of vanity, if it's unchecked. I suppose if we don't hurry, then others will fall victim to the power of the Mirror."

And then, without any warning, I heard the sound of a horrified, concern roar, and we were smacked to the floor by Yeto, who charged towards his wife before stopping by her side. If Yeta managed to scare me, I worried as to what Yeto would do if he found out about what I did.

"Uh..." She struggled to speak through a dazed mind as Zant help me back up. "Uh... What... wrong with me?"

Yeto carefully helped into into a sitting position. "VERY STRANGE... YOU JUST DREAMING, UH." He reassured her.

"Yeto!" She gasped and glanced to where the Mirror used to be. "Mirror you gave..."

But Yeto didn't care and shook his head. "FORGET MIRROR, YETA..." His voice slightly lowered a little in it's pitch and it took on a more serious tone. "NO. LOOK INTO EYES OF YETO... LOOK IN REFLECTION OF YETO'S EYES. _THERE_ TRUE BEAUTY!"

Yeto's words reached my heart, and I felt warmth returning back into me as I watched him gently pick up his wife. "WHO NEED MIRROR?"

Yeta- now her old self again, and back to her normal form- was smiling with love. "My love, uh!"

And thus, Yeto held his wife in a loving embrace and the two snuggled against each other.

I chuckled, despite the chill I still felt. "So sweet."

I collapsed against Zant as I felt myself transported away from the privacy of the moment between husband and wife. I reminded myself that I owed them both a serious apology, when all of this was over.

-Kakariko village-

I sighed as I allowed the hot water of the hot spring to seep into my body. My body regained enough of a temperature to allow me to be comfortable in the water, and Zant allowed me some privacy, which I appreciated. I didn't know where he went, and I didn't really care.

After enough time passed I closed my eyes and thought about the yeti couple. I couldn't help but feel envious of Yeta: she was lucky to have someone so loving, caring, funny, and wise as Yeto.

"You don't look happy."

I opened my eyes to see Ilia, of all people, in the hot springs with me.

"Oh!" I was surprised. "It- it's nothing. I was just thinking of someone I met, and how they were lucky to be loved in a romantic sense." I sighed. "I've never had that. It's not something I've thought of, but I wish it were possible."

"No offense, but you're really beautiful." Ilia complimented. "I can't see why anyone wouldn't want a beautiful, kind and brave person such as you."

I wish love was a lot easier than it looked. It's not something that's always instantaneous, and yet, you want it so badly to happen, when you do want it. I've met a few volunteers in the village, but I didn't feel anything stronger than friendliness, despite that they wanted something more. Even if it meant an escape from the village, I didn't want to give my heart away to someone that I didn't feel would be happy if I couldn't share that love with them.

"...Maybe I was almost in love." I thought. The closest I felt like I was in love was towards Link, and yet he was no longer alive and I doubted anything could have developed between us. "But he's dead. I was far lower in status then he was when he was alive, and now he's even farther away. Other than him, I've haven't had the luxury of knowing enough men." I let out a giggle, but it was forced, and Ilia could tell that I was trying to hide my misery.

"I'm sure one day you'll find someone who will make you feel happy." Ilia told me, and I could tell by the look in her eye that she was being sincere. "I don't know if I left anyone behind, but I would give anything to have any kind of love in my life."

"Me too." I murmured as I lifted a hand out of the water and danced a finger on the surface of the water. "Me too."

-?-

_I dreamt that I was laying in a field of grass and flowers, with the mountains out in front of me. I wore a beautiful gown that seemed suited for a ball rather than for the outdoors, and the sun was warm against my skin: a welcome, after the cold of the snowpeak mountains._

_I closed my eyes and was about to drift off, when I heard the sound of something approaching me._

_I sat up and opened my eyes: in front of me was a great wolf of white and brownish green, with strange markings. Despite how ferocious and majestic it was, it behaved like a pet dog, and sat down in front of me._

"_Oh, hello." I greeted him- it looked like a him to me. "You certainly are a handsome wolf." I extended a hand out and petted the back of his head, which the beast willingly allowed without any hesitation. "I've never seen you before, apart from the golden wolf."_

_The wolf tilted his head in interest, before he let out an excited yelp and leapt onto me. I hollered, but it made no attempt to attack me as I fell back in the flowers and grass._

_After I recovered, I watched as he moved closer until his nose almost touched my face and he looked into my eyes. I couldn't help but notice it's own eyes- blue, with curiosity and kindness._

_As I stared into those eyes, I felt that I knew them from somewhere, but I had no idea where._

"_Who are you?" I wondered. "I've seen your eyes before."_

_The wolf let out something that reminded me of an amused chuckle before he licked my left cheek._

"_That tickles!" I protested, with a laugh. _

That was when I woke up.

I looked around- there wasn't any wolf, or lovely field or dress. I was resting on a bed at the inn, after needing some time to recover, and it was still dark out.

"...Strange." I whispered as I touched my left cheek. That felt real, and yet it didn't. What I couldn't understand was why on earth I felt a little saddened that the dream ended so soon. The wolf...

I took the wolf as a sign of good luck. Perhaps fortune was going to be in my favor for the next part of my journey.

-...What, were you expecting something to have happened?-

-Let's see an outtake of what _could_ have happened.-

Deciding to rumor Zant, I picked the weapon up and I tried to give it a spin. The ball was heavy, even with the gauntlets on, and after I tossed it, I pulled it back and it almost knocked me over.

However, in the process I accidentally tossed the whole thing to the side-

-And landed on Zant's foot.

"****!" Zant howled and shrieked at extremely high pitches and hopped as he held his knee up. "YOU ****** MORONIC *****, YOU *****!" He shrieked. "***********! *************! ******! IDIOT! SWEET ******* OF **** THAT HURTS LIKE A ****!"

"...Sorry?" I meekly apologized as my ear drums were being torn to shreds by the ungodly shrieking and cursing.

"************ MY *******! ****! ...****!"

* * *

><p>Midna's current state: This will be temporary and she will recover in time for her big fight with Zelda. Speaking of which, I'd like to hear what kind of attacks you want her to use, since I can make it so that she could use her attacks from Hyrule Warriors in addition to her powers as an Imp. Especially since she's a fan favorite in the Zelda community.<p>

The OCs: Before you get angry at me, this was intended for a good reason. The Twilight realm and the locals were a tad bland, so I needed to add to it, to make more believable as an actual place, and not a level I personally dread.

Zant meeting Colin: I promise that him being visible to people won't be happening in every single chapter from here on out, but I thought that this idea was also too much to pass up on.

The gauntlets: A nod to two entries to the Zelda series, and another way of saying "Zelda logic is faulty."

The dream:... Actually, it's kind of like the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, only in a certain reverse, now that I think of it.

Next time: we go back to the woods, where Zant meets up with his "friend" and we go back in time...


	11. Lets do the time warp again

HeroAlexa249: I am eager to finish this fan fic so I can get to Hyrule Warriors. Oh I have SO many plans for that one. I love the leaf sledding too... but one point I got stuck on the bridge and a glitch wouldn't let me go free. The thing with the Master Sword as a call back to a certain chapter of the last fan fic. Other than the canon fact that evil can't touch the blade.

Love is hard. I wish falling in love was easy for me- it's hard to find the right person.

ThePastReliesOnMemories: I will keep what was talked about in mind (and as I am posting up another fan fic on this site, I am making sure that I am giving proper responses to the reviews). Yeah, they are going to the Temple of Time (if it IS the exact same one from Ocarina of Time.) which is actually a pretty good level (unlike the next two that are coming up *shudders*). I think you might like how I did that certain scene... though it was a little tricky to work with, considering that it's a classic moment.

Ayako Zetra: Lexi says: YES! I still have several left! LET'S HAVE A BONFIRE!

Anyway: TARDIS! HECK YES! LETS GO THROUGH TIME AND SPACE!

I really hate continual advertisements and I am amazed at just how unrealistic such fantasies are (which would be painful to those girls in real life.). Unfortunately, considering Cia's fascination with Link, her design was probably made with that in mind. (And if I get around to making a Hyrule Warriors fan fic, the male counterpart is NOT going to get off scott free for that exact same reason.) And hey- if we question logic, it means we care. And that's why I try to fix it in these fan fics (What was wrong with the Hyrule Warriors logic again?) I've never tasted Pumpkin Pizza, but I bet it tastes good.

Baron Ricardo: I agree on the scenery of Twilight Princess, because on it's own, it's pretty good. But it leaves room for question and so much more potential. I fell in love with the scenery from Zelda wii u when I saw it (especially because it's similar to certain regions that I've visited since childhood.) I don't think the ball and chain fight with Midna would be similar to the original version. (And I like your input on fights for this fan fic and the ones you made for Skyward Swaps.)

PsycoFangirl: I can't figure out who the child of Ben and Beth would be. Dark/Shadow Link? Majora? Chancelor Cole? (The guy DOES have a creepy smile.) This could make a good brick joke for later. Oh boy, you're going to kill me after this chapter. The original did have some sad things under it's surface, Ganondorf kind of has a rather dark backstory, if you know all the facts about the Gerudo (which will be touched upon a little later in this fan fic.)

So anyway... I saw the boss fights for the Majora's Mask re-make. The scenery is a nice improvement... but WHAT made them think 'Oh, let's add in MORE eyeballs' was a good idea? At least Majora's boss room is pretty to look at... but the fight is still creepy.

chapter 11: Let's do the time warp again

* * *

><p><em>He remembers this as if it just happened.<em>

_It was back when the possibilities were more likely than not. When the future looked more bright and not as bleak._

_Even as a child he was mentally imbalanced- in some cases, it was a lot worse than it was now- and it made him stand out. He had a tendency to shy away from the others because of this and, on that day, he was busy studying near the city's square fountain, in a bench by a large potted plant._

"_And so, the treaty was made, to keep both classes at peace." He read aloud from his book. "Today, we use it in keeping a balance, so that the wealthy remember to pay their equal share of taxes, and the poor do not have to pay more than they need to. Furthermore-"_

"_Well look who it is." Zant looked up to see a group of boys his own age- one was tall and looked like he barely had any sort of chin and the other two looked like squashed in squares with frog like faces._

_Zant scowled at them, despite the fear that was creeping into him. "I'm afraid I'm rather busy right now."_

_The chinless one laughed. "What, studying about politics? Just because your a candidate to the throne doesn't make you king."_

" _I have as much as a chance as the others." Zant could feel the pressure rising in him. "Please leav-" The tall one took his book away. "GIVE THAT BACK!" He demanded._

"_Anyway, I'm bored." The tall one sighed as he turned to his lackeys. "Got the rocks boys? I want to make him... dance." The other two snickered knowingly as they took out a handful of rocks from their pockets._

"_I'm getting tired of this." Zant nervously felt his hands twitching in fear as his voice slowly began to raise up in pitch. "Do you really think I'm the source of your amusement, or are you just too narrow minded to find other-"_

"_Oh I do, mate." The tall one grinned. "After all, you're not the perfect image for a king."_

"_I mean it." Zant could now feel his shoulders twitch. "If you don't stop-"_

"_Yeah, why put a total nut case on the throne?" One of the lackeys laughed. "The second something doesn't go his way, he'll be thrashing and moaning on his throne like an idiot."_

_Zant felt something burst inside his skull and, without any warning, he lunged after the other child with a horrible cry._

_The brat moved to the side, and Zant missed, stumbling to a stop before stamping a foot in frustration. At that moment the tall one took the chance to take a stone and toss it at his head. It made perfect contact against Zant's head and he angrily spun around in a half circle._

"_YOU'RE DEAD!" He ran at the taller one, but the other two quickly grabbed him and pinned him to the stone ground. "LET GO OF ME!" He shrieked as he struggled like a snake, kicked his legs, and pounded on the ground._

"_Look at him boys." The tall one sneered. "He could be next in line for the throne, and yet if you set him off just right, he turns into a wild animal."_

"_That's what I just said!" The lackey who first spoke whined, but no one paid him any mind._

"_I SAID LET GO!" Zant then attempted to try to bite one of his captors wrists, but they only laughed at this and smashed his face into the ground hard enough that it almost broke his nose._

"_YOU THREE!" A new voice angrily joined in. The three troublemakers glanced up from the still writhing child to a small, young girl around their age._

"_If you don't let him go, I tell your family about what your doing." She warned them._

_The others merely laughed. "That old line?" The tall one raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Well aren't _you_ a hero." He sarcastically congratulated her._

_The girl only smirked. "Then I'll give ya a new one: I already told the palace guards who destroyed the prized flower beds, in an attempt to sneak in, during a school trip."_

_That did the trick._

_Horrified, the two boys let go of Zant- who fell limp- as the other one scowled. Without a word, he tossed the book onto the ground and quickly abandoned the square, though the other two ran ahead of him._

_With a sigh, the girl approached Zant and helped him get back on his feet. _

"_You have to stop letting them get to you like that." She began as he stood back up. "If you keep acting like a lunatic, they really won't consider you to be the true successor to the throne. And not only that, but you won't be able to make any friends."_

"_You know I can't stop it." Zant whined- despite that the danger passed, his mindset was still unbalanced and he wasn't at the right frame of maturity just yet._

"_Well either get it together, or go throw yourself in an institution." The girl snapped before she softened. "Maybe if you tried acting like you already were a king, you could keep it together."_

_Zant shook his head. "I appreciate your concern, but I doubt that would be possible. Seeing as I'm not sure if that will actually happen."_

"_Don't say that." The girl put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's like that one saying: hold yourself like a king, but be modest like a peasant, and you shall start to have the heart of the world."_

_Zant scoffed. "What a dumb thing to say."_

_The girl smirked despite herself. "Yeah- it's pretty corny."_

_-present-_

"Ah, good times, good times." Zant smiled to himself. "I almost miss those days of childish optimism and ignorance. Of course, it wasn't as bad as it used to be, on that particular day, but..." He turned to Zelda. "But it's the same for all, isn't it?"

Zelda didn't respond.

"Of course you would think that." Zant continued. "My aspirations were a lot bigger than yours at that age. Not to say yours wasn't any good- you didn't aspire to become a hero, but I can't imagine what else you were hoping for, growing up... You know, it's not fun if you don't respond back." He looked down.

Zelda was lying face first on the dirt in the cemetery.

"Oh well." Zant shook his head. "I I _did_ offend you, so I suppose I deserve the silent treatment."

-?-

"You're doing well." The shade complimented me as I put the Master Sword away. "You're getting much quicker in your movements."

"I appreciate it very much." I smiled. "I owe you a lot of gratitude for your lessons. They have definitely come in handy."

"There is a reason you must learn." The shade told me. "Your destiny depends upon the way of the sword."

"Well, I should probably get going soon." I thought back to Zant. "My companion thinks I have fainting episodes whenever we meet up."

"There is something I wish to tell you first." The shade stopped me. "It has to do with your destiny... and it relates to your predecessor. It's a story kept secret by the Royal Family and the honorable Sheikah tribe."

"My... predecessor?" I asked as my interest returned.

"Around the time Ganondorf Dragmire- leader of the Gerudo- attacked Hyrule," The Shade began "it was discovered that the hero possessed a certain power.

When Ganondorf destroyed the Kokiri Forest, the sight of what was left was so disastrous and so heart breaking that the hero expelled a powerful force of magic, out of grief. According to the story, this power was so strong, that it destroyed the surrounding area- stone was reduced to rubble, trees were ripped clean out of the earth, and what was weak and beyond repair turned to dust. However, she was unable to control this power which was so strong that it sent her into a comatose state."

I felt my stomach flip when I heard this all too familiar sounding story. "And what happened to her?" I quietly asked. "Where did that power come from?"

"None could find the answer to such a riddle." The Shade replied. "When the sages were consulted, they feared this power and the Shiekah were sent in to perform a ritual to extract it from the girl, without killing her. The ritual was, thankfully, a success, and the young one lived and finally awoke after a seven day slumber, though she slept through the very days in which Ganondorf had been brought to justice and Hyrule had won the battle for it's future. Whatever knowledge she could offer about this power, she never provided to anyone, but we can only presume she at least told someone, for her sake. As for that power, it had been sealed away, from those who could abuse it... until fate guided it into the hands of one who was meant to have it."

"And you think I have this power?" I nervously asked. "It would explain a lot about-"

"It is not a question of whether or not you have that power." The shade told me as all turned white. "The question is: can you find the courage, wisdom, and power to use it for the inevitable? Your greatest fear_ can_ be turned into your most powerful weapon."

-present-

"Ugh." I woke up to the sound of Zant humming that odd tune again. "What are you humming?" I finally asked.

"Just a song from home." Zant calmly replied.

"Well, that aside, we need to go to the Sacred Grove." I brushed myself off as Zant gave me a blank look. "...What?"

"No." Zant flatly responded.

"It has to be the Sacred Grove!" I replied. "Don't you want to at least look?"

"I believe you." He calmly told me. "It's just that we are going to have to encounter that little delinquent who lives there."

"Then just hide in my shadow." I advised.

-later-

When we arrived back at Faron Woods, I found Rusl looking over the forest, on a ledge near the forest temple.

"I'm a little surprised to see you here so soon." I said as I approached him. "Did you visit Uli and the others?"

"Not yet." Rusl replied without turning, before he mused. "It has been a while since we took a walk in the forest, huh? And how our world has changed..."

"I remember those days in my childhood." I recalled as I looked around the area. "Everything was so overwhelming to me. I thought that the trees were giants, and yet the sound of the wind blowing through them always gave me a sense of peace, even to this day."

"It didn't take too long for you to become more open and light hearted again." Rusl thought back to those days. "These woods always hold a sort of power over those who enter it. I suppose that's why the village was built here in the first place."

"I've been thinking." I began. "When my father left, did... did he say anything about coming to these woods to find anything in particular?"

"I don't know." Rusl thought. "Your father was rather secretive about certain things. He never told me if he would come here."

"Oh," I was a little disappointed.

"...Say." Rusl asked me. "Do you know about the far side of this deep gorge? Some say there is an ancient temple deep in the woods that guards a sacred power. The ancestors of the Hylians created the temple... Signs of their civilization- ancient, but very sophisticated- are everywhere. If someone could obtain the power of those ancient people... Well, I am sure it would go a long way toward saving Hyrule."

"Are you sure it's not the Master Sword?" I asked.

"I don't think so." Rusl shook his head as he turned to me. "But would you cross the gorge and find the ancient power sleeping in the temple?"

"I... yes." I nodded, over Zant's protests, which only I could hear. ("We do NOT have to go back to that accursed place!" He growled out.)

Rusl smiled. "Well, to cross the gorge, just use my partner here." He then turned and whistled out a melody. To my amazement, a cuccoo with a beautiful golden color ran up from the grassy area, flew up, and perched on Rusl's outstretched arm.

"Amazing." I was impressed. "But didn't he just-"

"He flies like a dream!" Rusl smiled with pride. "Believe me! You will definitely make it across the gorge."

"I'll try." I picked the cuccoo up, who immediately began to flap it's wings. "By the way." I added. "Colin is still doing just fine. If you visit the village, tell Uli I said hi."

"That I will." Rusl promised. "And I might check in with Colin, to see how he is doing."

After flying across the gorge and reaching a familiar entrance, I let go of the gold cuccoo and headed into the grove. (Zant let out an annoyed groan- he was NOT looking foreword to this.)

"Hello?!" I yelled as I entered the grove. "Skull Kid, it's me! The one who was the wolf?! I was a wolf and I played tag with you!"

I waited patiently for him to show up.

"We don't _need_ his help." Zant's voice almost sounded like a pout. "Let's find it on our own."

"Is that the hero I hear?!" An excited voice echoed through out the grove. I heard the sound of rustling leaves and the Skull Kid leapt down from the trees, just a few feet from me.

"Yay! It is!" He cheered and waved the hand that held the pipes in his hand."Hello Miss Hero! I see you are doing well, though your companion is curiously absent. How is the sacred sword? Have you been taking care of _him_ and cleaning his blade?"

"Uh," I pulled the Master Sword out and gave it a glance- it wasn't as polished and clean as when I first found it. "Not exactly-"

"You should be cleaning him more often!" The skull kid chided me. "_He_ doesn't like to get dirtied all the time. All weapons need to be cleaned and polished, but this one is especially vain." He threw an accusing look at the sword. "Quite an annoyance, if you ask me."

This accusation distracted me from my initial objective, and I thought about the talk with Rusl.

"Skull Kid." I asked. "Has... has anyone ever tried to come to this place to take the Master Sword? Besides me?"

The child beamed. "As a matter of fact, there have been many! Not all survived, and the rest left without the sword in hand. One almost made it to the chamber but I told him he couldn't 'cause the sword is already devoted to the one who is going to wield him in this lifetime, and to have another wielder would mean falsehood. It's like an intended marriage, you see." Skull Kid chuckled. "And you were, in a way, the intended bride who is now his wife... or at least one of them." He added as an after thought.

"And what happened?" I pressed. "Why did this person want the sword?"

"He said he wanted it for his daughter- he said he was sure that she was meant to have it. So I said" The Skull Kid held himself up and took on the air of a person of great authority. "Even if she is, she is far too young. The last wielder was too young and she was sent into a deep sleep until she was old enough. She will be too young too: if she be the one that he wants, come back when she is all grown up, and _then_ he will join her side."

"And what happened to him?" I asked as I felt my heart rate increase. "The father?"

"I don't really know." Skull Kid shrugged as he returned to his normal stance. "He was pretty upset when I left him."

"Thanks anyway." I managed to say, despite how I was hovering between hope and disappointment. "So-"

"Not so fast!" Skull Kid wagged a finger at me. "He asked me what would become of the one who would inherit the Blade of Evil's Bane, and when her destiny would end. And since it is you who are the holder of the blade, I shall tell you the prophesy I gave him: on the day her destiny is fulfilled, the hero who wears the wolf's hide at will, and carries the sacred sword will stand before all three kings of light, dark, and the in between."

I raised an eyebrow at this, but I felt that it was best to think on it another time. "So, the real reason I am here is because I suspect that there is a mirror shard imbued with dark power in this grove." I began again.

The Skull Kid hummed in thought. "A reflection with dark power... that which should reflect truth, only brings out the worst in someone. I don't think that which you seek is here, but the question is _when_ it came here."

I was puzzled by this but before I could ask, the Skull Kid asked me. "Where is your companion? Is he hiding somewhere in the shadows?"

"Uhm... he's pre occupied at the moment."

Skull Kid then pouted. "Aw- but I like playing with ol' Lizard Face! He's very persistent, but it's pretty funny when he throws a tantrum, like a little whiny brat! And he's voice is really funny when it raises in pitch, and starts yelling-"

"THAT'S IT!" Zant shot up from my shadows and had his scimitars in hand. "I'M GOING TO DISMEMBER YOU, YOU LITTLE INGRATE!"

"I KNEW IT!" Skull Kid let out a laugh and dashed into the grove, followed by an enraged Zant.

"Not again," I groaned as I ran a hand over my face, before I chased after them.

"Another game of tag!" Skull Kid cheered somewhere in the woods. "Let's see how long it takes, until one of you gets me!"

"YOU BETTER HOPE LADY WOLF FINDS YOU FIRST, OR SO HELP ME, I'LL UNLEASH MY WRATH UPON YOU!"

At least Zant had friends besides me in this realm.

Anyway, I had to act fast, so Zant wouldn't kill Skull Kid. This time, the child took to the trees and I was forced to shoot my arrows at him as he sent marionettes at me. And every time I almost hit him, he ran off and the process would restart as I ran through the grove.

By the time I entered a familiar ring of pillars and rocks, Skull Kid was mad at me.

"WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING AT ME?!" He yelled. "I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!"

"Because my companion will kill you if you don't settle down." I calmly told him. "And you owe him an apology."

"KEAYH!" And as if on cue, I saw Zant fall- belly-flop style- onto Skull Kid.

"FINALLY!" Zant triumphantly cried out as he raised his arms to the sky and had his prey under him. "I HAVE THE LITTLE BEAST IN MY CLUTCHES!"

"More like under your stomach." Skull Kid groaned out in pain.

"Zant, please don't kill Skull Kid." I asked. "We need to know where the shard is."

"...Fine." Zant let out a sound of annoyance, grabbed a hold of the Skull Kid, and stood up, with the later dangling from the back of his shirt, which Zant held onto at an arms length.

"...I sense something about you." Skull Kid told Zant with slight curiosity. "You may be the Hero's shadow, but I sense a shadow hiding in _your_ shadow."

"What are you talking about?" Zant hissed impatiently.

"Who," The Skull Kid pipped up and held up a finger. "Is that which is whole, yet scattered across the lands? Why is that one so close, yet so far? I heard that I would meet one who will carry two crowns, but how can one wear two crowns, if they only have one head?"

"What did you mean by _when_?" I interrupted the Skull Kid.

"Well..." Skull Kid sang. "It is here, but it's also far. It is where a legend was born, but a disaster was created. It is where one hand held the sacred blade, and where another hand held it once more."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but the Skull Kid swung into the air, as if on a swing, and vanished.

"What the-" Zant looked at his hand in shock, just as Skull Kid's voice echoed out.

"I'll let you into another part of the secret area." He promised. "We should play again sometime, Miss Hero and Lizard Face!"

"ONE OF THESE DAYS!" Zant swore. "I'M GOING TO GET BACK AT YOU, YOU SLIVER OF A BRAT! YOU WON'T SEE IT COMING!"

"I'd love to see you try!" Skull Kid sang out. "Oh, and by the way- Miss Hero, you need to put the sword in it's pedestal, in order to reveal the door. Don't worry- you will still be able to pull him out!"

Zant let out a noise of frustration and threw his arms up into the air as a passage in the stone wall revealed itself.

-later-

"It's the same place again." Zant shook his head as we entered the upper part of the place where I found the Master Sword. "I knew that little-"

"Maybe there was a reason?" I asked as I noticed a statue in front of an old set of double doors. I recalled the Skull Kid's words and made my way to the pedestal, where I fulfilled his commands.

"And now to see if it worked." I ran out- only to see the shadow beasts come from the sky.

"Nope- you stay right there!" Zant snarled at me as he took his scimitars out. "If you aren't going to let me kill that brat, then you are not going to deny me the chance to take my aggression out!"

Almost a minute later, the beasts were gone, after a violent frenzy that was too graphic to describe, and Zant was laughing so hard that he fell to his knees and I thought he was going to pass out. It took a few minutes before he could finally recover from his 'fun time.'

"That felt _good_!" He giddily leapt back up onto his feet. "Let's go find that temple!" He happily spoke.

Wordlessly, I went on ahead, and he followed me to the double doors that the statue blocked. I could see the familiar loftwing insignia on them, but as I got closer, the doors opened on their own.

"What on earth-" The gate that had opened revealed some sort of distorted image of black and white.

"Perhaps it's a portal." Zant nonchalantly stepped through it (as if he wasn't in a bloodlust frenzy, just seconds ago) and then vanished.

"...Ok." I shrugged and stepped through.

-left, b, down...wait, is that how it went on the N64 version?-

I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. "Is... is this-?"

The sacred grove was once something else, but I never imagined it to be a temple. A beautiful temple, with stained glass windows that filled it with radiant beams of sunlight.

"Remarkable." Even Zant was impressed as I stepped forward. "We appear to have gone back in time. What is this place?"

"...I think... I think this is supposed to be _the_ Temple of Time." I couldn't believe this, and I thought about it was we walked down the steps. "But that can't be. The Temple of Time was located near Hyrule Castle, and the Grove is near where the Kokiri Woods are. This should be the Forest Temple, but it's not."

We continued walking through the temple and took in it's overwhelming, powerful beauty. "Unless they built a new one and moved the Master Sword..." I felt a strange sense of deja vu, like I had been here before.

We entered the second room (the original holding place of the MasterSword) which had the loveliest stained glass windows I had ever seen as we approached the pedestal of time.

"There's no Master Sword." Zant noticed.

"Maybe they were going to move it here to the pedestal of time?" I wondered. "That is, if-"

"Pedestal of time?" Zant raised an eyebrow at this.

"According to legend, the pedestal of time was a pedestal for the Master Sword, which dated as far back as the era of the Sky." I began. "The Master Sword and the pedestal both guard the entrance to the sacred realm, and only the Hero of Time was able to open it."

"And what happens if you return it to the pedestal now?"

I took the sword out and looked at it. "I don't know... I shouldn't have anything to worry about." And so, I went ahead and plunged it into the pedestal.

When I did this, a column of light rose from the pedestal and covered the Master Sword. The, right before me, a staircase was formed, which lead all the way up to the stained glass window that I was facing.

"A secret passage?" I wondered as I pulled the sword out. "That's never been men-"

I heard a strange clicking noise and a strange bird like creature ran up the staircase at a fast paced speed, along with a small flying thing by it's side.

"What was that?" Zant asked, as the stained glass faded to reveal a door in a passageway.

"I think I've seen that creature before." I thought about that, but I gave up when I wasn't coming up with anything. "Oh well- I guess we should find the shard."

And so, I went up the steps, and entered the Temple's secret.

I have to admit, I was surprised that this part had somehow escaped from history. The main room that I first entered into was rather lovely, but Zant noticed something.

"I see that we are one statue short."

"What do you mean?"

"In the grove and in the temple entry, there was always a matching set of statues, but this one is missing it's twin." He pointed to a lone statue resting near a door.

"I'll keep that in mind." I decided. "In case I need to find it."

"You!" A new voice cried out.

We both turned to see the bird creature and it's companion.

Suddenly, I remembered. "Wait, I know you! You were in the Forest Temple! Uh... your name was..."

"Oocccoo." She chirped. "Oh, and this is my son, Oocccoo junior." She turned to the floating... head with wings on each side.

"Hello!" He happily greeted.

"...Hi?" I waved and tried to be polite. "I'm Zelda."

"What are you doing here?" Zant asked Occoo without even batting an eye.

"The ancient technology of our people sleeps in this place." Oocccoo became excited. "We've searched all over... and now we're so close, I can SMELL it! Once we find that thing, we can go home at last! Oh, gracious yes!"

"Erm, young lady!" She addressed me. "We're so close... so PLEASE help us find what we're looking for!"

"As long as it's not the Mirror shard." Zant muttered to himself. "We can't have another fiasco, like last time."

"You can join us, if you would like." I offered. "But there may be monsters and-"

"Oh pish posh! I've seen you in action!" Ooccoo tossed her head. "Just put us somewhere safe, and I'll give you a call, if I see it!"

And so, I was left with Oocccoo ridding in a pouch, with her son flying over my head.

As we searched the temple- more like tower- I asked Occcoo a question.

"You called me 'Hero of Skyloft' when we last met. Why was that?"

"You look kinda like the girl on the tapestry at our home!" Jr. told me. "And we thought that, since you look like her, you can help us."

"So we've been searching for a way home, and ran into you!" Ooccoo added. "Destiny has brought you to us, my dear!"

As we continued on our journey, I noticed how advanced the technology was in this place, and all of the statues that frequently appeared. Eventually, I reached the top of the temple... where a certain foe awaited me.

"Here we go again." I pulled the Master Sword and my shield out as I spotted the darknut. "Zant, take care of Ooccoo and her son for me."

"Hey!" Ooccoo protested as I picked her up and passed her to Zant, while Jr. floated over his head.

The resulting fight was rather tough, but it was a good one, since I was able to engage in a real one on one duel. It required some effort, but I had eager support from the sidelines.

"Make that brute fall to his knees!" Ooccoo cheered.

"Beat him, pretty lady!" Jr. copied the enthusiasm.

Upon it's defeat, I opened up the chest that had been blocked from me, to reveal a strange looking rod.

"That's it!" Oocccoo cheered. "That's what we've been looking for!"

"What is it?" I asked as I examined the strange device, that had a glowing orb of light hovering on the top part.

"It's the dominion rod! It can make any statue come to life, and it will follow and copy your every move! That's what will help us get back home!"

"As much as we were of help to you, madam, I am afraid we may still have need of it." Zant interrupted. "We need to borrow it for a little longer, to find something of value. Remember that statue?" He asked me.

"You mean this one?!" Jr. floated around a statue that was above us and looked identical to the one on the first floor.

"...Yes."

"Well, let's give it a shot." I swung the rod out, which sent the green light into the statue. It's markings turned green and, when I moved forward, it also moved forward.

"Hmm." I ran backwards, and it matched my speed, before falling to our level. "Perfect!"

And so, the five (including the statue) of us made our slow, careful descent back down. Along the way, I recalled something Zant had mentioned yesterday.

"So, you told me you had cousins." I began as Jr. started singing a song to himself. "I'd like to hear more, if you don't mind."

"It's rather simple." Zant began. "There's so many people in my realm that I can't stand, and yet those two are among the few that I dearly cherish, and I can stay somewhat sane around them. They certainly tolerate my 'fits' if you know what I mean.

I taught them some of my knowledge of magic, but they can take care of themselves on their own. In fact, I was saving the insects for one of them, but I don't think they would like being in the twilight realm that much."

"That's too bad for him."

"Actually it's a girl- both of them. Ariadne has the passion of insects, but Daphne is more fond of snakes."

"Well, I can't wait to meet them." I smiled. "Once we gather all the shards, I bet they'll be glad to see you again."

Finally, we reached the bottom, where the statue was placed on the other side of the door, alongside it's twin. The gate opened, and we were granted access to a new part of the temple.

"Give us a few more minutes and we'll give you the Dominion Rod." I promised Ooccoo as I headed to the doors."

"Of course dear, but please do hurry."

Once I made my way, I reached the final room. It was rather large, with huge statues with fists raised high in the air, an beams of light coming down from the ceiling.

"What kind of room is this?" I wondered, but I was also getting a bad feeling. "Zant, there's no way you could possibly hide them in the shadows, can you?"

"Unfortunately no. Unless they want me to take them where I placed all of your belongings."

"Good gracious! I am not a belonging!" Ooccoo snapped.

"Fine," I held my hands in protest as I walked towards the statue. "But I'm getting the sense that you should-"

The light that came down in front of the statue went out.

"-Hide." I looked up, just as it reappeared. "What the-?" I turned around.

On the ceiling was the largest spider I had ever seen in all of my life. It looked as big as a house and it had a grotesque eyeball at the center of it's back.

"Oh no." I backed away as I felt Jr. dart into the pouch, along with his mother.

"It's the Armoghoma!" Ooccoo shrieked. "Nasty beast!"

"With an obvious weakness." I heard Zant sigh in annoyance as the thing crawled on the ceiling.

"Figured as much!" I pulled the bow out. "Time to exterminate!"

It was surprisingly easy. I just had to wait for the eye to open up when it was over the lights and when it fell, I made the statues crush it with my dominion rod. (The room had dead giveaways as to what I could do.) Of course, the Armoghoma also shot out lazers from it's eye and had the funny idea of birthing out new baby hatchlings from above to distract me.

"Don't kill the babies!" Ooccoo and Jr. protested, but I had to do it. Even if the thought was disturbing.

Finally, I managed to land the final blow on the beast with the help of the rod and a large statue and it bursted into smoke.

"Finally!" I cheered as I put the Master Sword away and the smoke cleared. "Only one more to-" Something made me stop when the smoke cleared.

The eyeball was surrounding by eggs... and it turned to reveal that it was a spider the whole time, just as the baby spiders hatched. And once it laid eyes on me, it ran away, followed by the babies.

...

...Uh.

..._What?_

"...This is..._new_." I really didn't know how to react. In some ways, it felt like I was punched in the face, and in other ways, I felt as if someone decided to have a laugh and pull a prank on me. "Uh... so it was a smaller spider controlling a bigger spider the whole time?"

"I personally find this to be quite hilarious." Zant came out and stood next to me. "Do you want to see how long we can let it live, before killing it?"

I watched as it ran around, with nowhere to go. "Uh..."

-one minute later-

"YAGH! WHOO!" Zant spun after the spiders and they ran to one side.

They ran the other way when Zant started swinging his scimitars at it. "There's no running from me!" He warned them.

-one minute later-

"WHEEE!" Jr. cheered as he bounced on the big spider's eye part. "This is fun!"

"JR!" Ooccoo freaked out as she ran after it. "Get off that thing, right this instant!"

-one minute later-

I practiced some fighting moves with the Master Sword as they ran around me in circles.

-one minute later-

"Die, die die!" Zant happily cheered as he shot strange purple balls of energy from his hands at the spiders.

-one minute later-

"JR. WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!" Ooccoo screamed as Jr. still happily bounced on the monster's eye. "GET OFF THE GIGANTIC EYEBALL!"

-one minute later-

"Boom." I spoke in a monotonous voice as I casually threw a bomb at the spiders and they ran as fast as they could from it.

-one minute later-

Zant hopped after the spiders like a maniac.

-one minute later-

"Children, I tell you!" Ooccoo huffed as she stood next to the eye ball spider, who actually stayed stationary, while Jr. happily flew over the baby spiders. "We try to be good parents and look out for them, and yet they insist on doing things that could ruin their developing minds."

The big spider nodded in agreement.

-one minute later-

"LEXI FOR THE WIN!" The Gale Boomerang spun after the spiders as it's spirit let out a happy cheer.

-one mi- is this even _canon_?-

I shot an arrow at the spider and it died in a puff of smoke, along with it's children.

"_Now_ you can say one more to go." Zant calmed down as he grabbed the mirror shard that was left behind.

-the temple of time entrance-

"You know," Zant began as we returned to the doors to our time. "We could be assembling something dangerous, seeing as what it has done to those who possess it. We might even have to destroy it."

"Hopefully we wont." I thought. "You wouldn't be able to return home. I don't think that would be fair."

Zant went back through the portal and into the present, and Ooccoo and Jr. followed suit, but I hesitated. I glanced around the Temple of Time one last time.

"One day, there's going to be a child who will come here." I thought out loud. "That child will be sealed away for seven years, before she can become a hero."

"I wish that I could have met her. It's because of her that we had an era of peace, and now I'm carrying on her legacy. It's a shame we never reached that point in time... and yet-" I laughed. "I can't believe I'm talking to myself."

I then heard a noise echo through the temple. I could have been imagining it all, but it sounded like an ocarina, playing a haunting tune.

There was no point in lingering in the past for too long. So I walked through the portal- leaving a gone, but never forgotten place behind me- and back into my time.

-present-

"Well done adventurer!" Ooccoo happily congratulated me as her son flew by her side.

"And now, we can go back home!"

"Here." I pulled the Dominion Rod out, but then I noticed that it didn't seem as alive as it used to be. "Uh..."

"Oh dear." Occoo sighed. "It has been around for quite some time. I can see that it's magic has been exhausted. Ooh, what am I to do." She fretted. "I thought I could return to the sky... And I have completely forgotten the spell that would once again bestow it with magic."

She shook her head. "It can't be helped. I suppose I'll just have to look for the statues that respond to the rod." She nodded her head. "It's decided! That's what we'll do! That's what we'll do, indeed!" She then turned around. "Well, Ooccoo is on her way! See you again!"

"Bye pretty lady!" Jr. called out as he and his mother flew up into the sky. "Bye pretty lady's friend!"

We stood there in silence.

"...Well, now what?" I wondered. "We need to go to the sky too, but..." I glanced up into the heavens before I glanced back down at the dominion rod. "I should have asked Ooccoo if I could joined her in her search."

* * *

><p>...Stupid Temple of Time and it's inability to be the exact one. Stupid history of Hyrule. Stupid... blegh.<p>

I don't have much to comment on... I almost replaced that 'one minute later' gag with something else that made more sense.

And I have no clue what politics are like in the Twilight Realm. Other than what was presented and hinted at in the game.

Oh, by the way, if anyone wants to see some sketches from this fanfic, check out my DeviantART account: Tornrose24 (my other username). It should be under the title _Twilight Twists Sketches_.

...Although Lexi wants to say that she isn't happy with my interpretation of her, and thinks it's too plain.

Next time we... _Oh. No_.

Someone please give me strength. I'm going to have to split the next part into two chapters and it's the part of the game that really annoys me. I will do my best with what I have, but... it's going to take me ages to get it done.


End file.
